What Happens in Vegas
by Silently Watches
Summary: …doesn't necessarily STAY there. When two groups travel to Sin City in an attempt to recover from recent events, no one could have predicted the consequences. Bloody Brandy's Vegas Vacation challenge, fem!Harry/Raven, femslash, NOT Tonks/Lupin
1. Kidnapped!

**Before we start, I thought I'd help everyone get their bearings timeline-wise. On the Teen Titans side, this is post–season five, but we're pretending that the last episode with maybe-Terra never happened. For the Harry Potter crew, this starts just a couple of weeks after book five ends.**

**Disclaimer:** Was Harry left completely alone after both Cedric's and Sirius's deaths? If so, I own neither the Harry Potter nor the Teen Titans franchise; they belong to J.K. Rowling and DC Entertainment, respectively, as well as Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 1  
****Kidnapped!**

The summer air around Privet Drive was scorching hot, much as it had been the previous year, and all of the residents of this plain, _normal_ neighborhood were therefore sitting around in their air conditioning and huddling around their television sets. No one, not even the nosiest of inhabitants, was peering outside her curtained windows to search for juicy gossip, for who would be around for her to spy upon on a day like today?

This, Nymphadora Tonks decided as she approached her target, worked out quite well for her plan.

"Hey, Dung, where are you?" she called softly at the hedges near Number 4. After a moment there was a rustle, and the thief's head appeared out from under the invisibility cloak he had borrowed. "Some stuff came up at work, and I won't be able to make tomorrow's shift. Want to switch with me? I have the day off."

Mundungus Fletcher hesitated a moment before nodding. "Sure, I got nothing else to do tomorrow. You're gonna want the cloak, yeah?"

"No, no, I'm fine. Brought my own," the metamorphmagus lied, her hair shifting from its previous deep indigo to a more cheerful yellow. _'Bright colors make people think you're trustworthy and honest,'_ Mad-Eye had told her more than once when she was still a cadet. _'So long as you also do that when you __**are**__ telling the truth, they'll think it's one of your tells.'_ Lowering her voice to a whisper, she asked, "How's she doing in there?"

"Don't really know; she never comes out, does she? S'right boring watching nothing going on."

"Don't I know it. I bring a book to read during my shift to keep from getting too bored." She patted the pocket of her Muggle trousers, but while it held a number of items, a book was not one of them. "If You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters haven't attacked this place by now, they probably won't ever."

The man's seemingly floating head nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, that's what I keep trying to tell 'em. Waste of time, if you ask me."

She mentally sneered. _It's a good thing we __**don't**__ ask you then, isn't it?_ "Agree with you one-hundred percent, Dung. Go on and head out. I've got this."

The thief disappeared with a loud crack, though the sound was muffled by the privacy charm she had cast on the area before approaching him. Waving away the smell of burning socks Mundungus's cheap tobacco left everywhere, she could not help the crafty smile that appeared on her face. He clearly would not be paying any attention the next day, and Remus was scheduled for that night's guard duty.

That meant at least thirty-six hours before anyone realized there was something wrong.

_Should I feel bad for leaving the Muggles without any protection?_, she wondered to herself. After a moment, the memory of the Order's confrontation with Vernon Dursley flashed in her mind, and she shook her head. _No, I really shouldn't. Anyone who needs to be threatened to make sure he takes care of his own __**family**__ deserves whatever he gets_.

Walking quietly thanks to the silencing charm on her boots, she carefully opened the front door and snuck inside. Everything would be much easier if she did not have to deal with the Dursleys. In and out with nobody the wiser was her goal.

Once up the stairs – and thankful that no one had paid any attention to the three squeaky ones – she had to withhold the tirade that wanted to escape as she again saw the multiple locks on the door. That _any_ child would be treated like this, the _'Chosen One'_ or not, was utterly despicable. "_Alohomora_," she whispered, causing the deadbolts to turn and the door to creak open.

What met her truly was a pitiful sight. Willow Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived and a distant cousin on her mother's side, lay curled up in a little ball on the too-short bed, her belongings scattered about the room in a way that spoke of not having enough energy to care rather than being naturally messy. The girl's snow-white owl, Hedwig, sat on a perch on the bedside table; the bird turned its great amber eyes on her, almost as if it could peer straight through her, before it looked back at its witch and chuffed softly.

"Hedwig, shush," Willow murmured, her words just barely stirring the black locks covering her face. Tonks could not tell if the girl was almost asleep – considering it was already after one in the afternoon, she doubted that, even if her target _was_ a teenager – or wallowing in the depths of depression. "You know the window's open if you want to fly."

A bittersweet smile appeared on the metamorph's lips. "Clearly you need to invest in a better alarm."

"Huh?" The younger witch lifted her head and brushed her hair out of her vision. "Tonks? What are you doing here?"

"Better question, how do you know I'm really me?" she returned. She might not be as paranoid as her old mentor, but she did agree with him that basic security was a necessity. And for someone who had been targeted by You-Know-Who – _twice_, in fact – good security habits _needed_ to become ingrained.

It took Willow a moment to realize what she meant, then the girl's green eyes narrowed before flicking to the wand by the owl's perch and back. A heartbeat after that, she ordered, "Show me what you looked like at dinner at Headquarters the first night I was there."

_**Very**__ clever. That's even better than asking for info no one else would know. No one but another metamorphmagus could pass for me_. "Ooh, that's a hard one." Willow tensed, her hand twitching as if she were preparing to snag her wand. "I mean, there was the pig's snout, and the duck's bill, and the little button nose…"

At each item of her list, she shifted her nose to match, and her cousin soon relaxed as she proved that she really was who she said she was. When Tonks finally returned to her regular appearance, she asked, "So, do I pass your test?"

"Sure," Willow said with a tentative smile. She was only able to take a couple of steps before the younger witch suddenly twitched and said, "Hey, aren't you supposed to check, too? Make sure someone didn't come in and replace me?"

"I _should_, but I don't have to. One, if you got captured, I don't think You-Know-Who would keep it a secret for very long." Willow grimaced at that reminder. "Two, no Death Eater would ever make that offer. And three, if you were really a Death Eater in disguise, you'd have your wand in your hand and hidden so I wouldn't see that it was aimed at me," she said with a pointed look at the girl's two empty hands.

"Oh. Right."

Tonks snorted indelicately at that and sat on the edge of the bed. "So how you doing, kiddo?"

"Fine," she answered quietly. The metamorph doubted that, and apparently it showed on her face because the girl quickly looked down at her lap. "Really, Tonks, I'm fine."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you are. Do you what one of my instructors once told me _'fine'_ meant?" Willow shook her head at the apparent non sequitur. "He said it's short for _'freaking out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional'_. So yeah, you're _fine_, all right."

The girl's eyes shot up at that, but before she could deny the accusation, Tonks raised a hand and covered Willow's mouth with the tips of her fingers. Giving the girl a weak, watery smile, she confided, "I know. I miss him, too."

As if that were the long-awaited signal for the floodgates to open, Willow broke down, and she pulled the younger witch to her. "Shh, shh. It hurts now, and it'll never go all the way away, but I promise, things _will_ get better."

After several minutes, the girl who was bearing far too much weight on her thin shoulders finally pulled away. "It's all my fault," she whispered. "If I hadn't thought the vision was real, Sirius… he'd…"

"It's not all your fault, Willow. You didn't hold a wand to his head and force him to go to the Ministry, and you didn't shove him into the Veil of Death. You can't blame yourself for that."

"But he only went because of what I did! He'd still be alive if I hadn't gone to London."

"Now _there_, yes, you did screw up." Willow jerked her head up to look her at her in shock at the blunt statement. "There was no reason for you to leave the castle at all. If You-Know-Who really had Sirius, he would have had to find Headquarters, break through the Fidelius, and fight off everyone else who was there, which would mean he was _far_ above your ability to take on. Even if you thought Sirius had snuck out, you should have called us since we were already in the city and had people who were actually _trained_ to deal with dark wizards. And under _no_ circumstances should you have ever brought a bunch of kids who've never been in a real fight before to a battle against Death Eaters."

The girl simply stared at her silently, her mouth hanging open. Clearly no one had ever talked to her about the possible consequences of her leaping head-first into fights between grown wizards. Of course, if the rumors Tonks had heard about Willow's early years at Hogwarts were true, she would not be surprised to find out that no one had ever really paid attention to her actions before beyond giving her a offhand _'good job'_ and a pat on the head before sending her on her way.

Battling a centuries-old basilisk and a swarm of Dementors? _Someone_ had to teach the girl how to use her head in a fight, or she'd be dead before she could graduate!

"That said, I understand why you felt like you had to do what you did," she admitted, causing Willow's face to twitch yet again at her constantly shifting attitude. "If I had been in your shoes at your age, I don't think I'd have been collected enough to do anything more than run around in a panic. So on that side of it, you weren't too shabby. Just don't do it again."

"Y-Yeah. I won't." Willow frowned. "But I _did_ talk to someone in the Order first. I told… Snape… Oh, no."

_She told Snape? He didn't mention anything about that conversation to __**us**__. That conniving, duplicitous, self-centered…_ Curtailing her vicious thoughts before they risked becoming even more vicious actions, she ground out, "Well, I'll have to have a little _chat_ with him on that subject when we get back, then."

"Get back? Where are you going? Wait, _we_?"

"Yep. I'm kidnapping you." Before Willow could do more than splutter, Tonks stood and began summoning the girl's clothes out of the trunk at the foot of the bed, only to discard the various articles one by one. "Too old. Too bland. Too gross. Too big." She stopped and peered at the shirt again; two or maybe even three Willows could have fit inside it. "_Way_ too big. Don't you have _anything_ that fits?"

"Not really? I mean, there's my school stuff, but the Dursleys always said I had to make due with Dudley's old things."

"Of course they did," she muttered. Her estimation of Willow's 'family' just kept going down by the minute. "We'll just have to get you some new things when we get there, then. Can't have you walking around town in this, but we don't have time for a shopping trip before we leave."

"Wait, wait, wait. Back up. _What_ are we doing?" the girl demanded.

Tonks turned around and gave the younger witch a grin. "You need to understand that this wasn't originally _my_ plan. You see, Sirius thought that after the Ministry and the _Daily Prophet_ ganging up on you this past year, you'd need a bit of a break, so he arranged to take you on vacation. _I_ suggested you two head off to the beach for a week, but he was adamant that that wasn't fun enough. He said he was going to take you out of the country, give you a fake passport, and make sure you drank and partied and stuffed years of teenage rebellion and stupidity into one wild weekend. My words, not his. With him… _gone_," she finally forced out, "it's obvious that you need something to keep yourself distracted even more than before. It seems only fitting that we do what _he_ wanted to do, so here we are."

"That's something Sirius would have wanted to do," Willow agreed with a weak smile. "So where are we going?"

Good mood restored, she pulled a postcard out of her pocket and flashed the glossy photo at her cousin. "We're headed to _Vegas_!"

* * *

"Here we are, guys," Cyborg said as looked out the canopy of the T-Jet at the glittering cityscape below. "Sin City."

_"Oh, this will be the most glorious vacation __**ever**__!"_

"You're not gettin' any arguments from me on that one, Star," he told the Tamaranean, half his attention on the directions to the runway that had just been cleared for them at McCarren International Airport. Grinning a bit, he joked, "Okay, everyone make sure your seatbelts are buckled and your tray tables are in the upright positions. We're comin' in for a landin'."

Some of the maintenance technicians gave the plane odd glances as he guided the machine to a hover and lowered her to the tarmac, to which he could only shake his head. The men outside acted as if they had never seen a hypersonic jet with spacefaring capabilities before! He flicked a switch to open the separate canopies and began undoing the numerous clips of his seat's harness. It was an annoyance, but he would much rather be irritated at the beginning and ending of any trip than bounce around his cockpit when they got in a dogfight.

"I'm loving this vacation already!" Beast Boy exclaimed once they were all standing on the ground. "A city full of clubs and hot girls? Don't wait up for me at night, guys; I'll be back in the morning."

Rolling his organic eye at the polymorph's attempt at a suave voice, the mechanical hero leaned closer to Robin and muttered just loud enough for their green friend to hear, "Twenty bucks says he has to turn into a dog and 'clean' himself if he wants some action this week."

"We may be in Vegas, but don't think that means I'm going to take you up on a sucker bet," the former Boy Wonder retorted with a grin.

Beast Boy whirled around unhappily at their barb. "Just you watch! I'm sure there's _someone_ in this town that appreciates real animal magnetism. Besides, who can resist the puppy dog eyes?" With a familiar _shlurp_, there was a small, green Scottish Terrier sitting at their feet.

"Yes, I can already tell that this week is going to be _great_." Cyborg turned to glance at Raven, a frown firmly plastered on her face. "How did you talk me into going along with this, again?"

Starfire flew over to wrap her arms around the half-demon in a hug strong enough to break a normal man's ribs. "But Friend Raven, just imagine! All of your TV shows portray this city to be the best location to find entertainment of all kinds! I just _know_ that even you will find an exciting way to pass our time here!"

"Because watching these three get drunk and act like giant idiots is something I've _always_ wanted to do," the cloak-clad sorceress shot back in a monotone.

"Don't worry about that, Raven," Robin replied in a comforting tone. "None of us are old enough to drink; Beast Boy only turned eighteen last month, after all, and even Cyborg has another year to go."

"Eh…"

One eye twitching behind his mask, the leader of the team turned to Cyborg. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like whatever it is you're about to say?"

"While we _are_ underage, that doesn't mean we can't have a _little_ fun while we're here." The robotic man whipped five driver's licenses from behind his back and showed them to the rest of the gang. "There's this woman at the DMV named Sheila, and once I told her about how we were goin' on vacation after, you know, _savin' the world_ and all, she was more than happy to print out some IDs with _mistakes_ on them."

"Dude, awesome!" Beast Boy exclaimed, returning to human form and snatching the cards from his hand. "I'll say it again. Best. Weekend. _Ever_!"

"Cyborg, we're heroes, remember? That means we're supposed to uphold _all_ the laws, not ignore the ones we don't like," Robin muttered from behind the hand covering his face.

"Hey, I don't know what you're gettin' on _my_ case for. It must have been some weird computer glitch that added three years to all our ages," he answered with a grin as he reclaimed the licenses from the shapeshifter and passed them out to their respective owners. "Besides, she said she'd catch the _'error'_ in a week, so they'll only be good while we're here."

"Cy…"

"Look, Rob, we just spent a whole year bringin' down the Brotherhood of Evil. I think we deserve just a _little_ bit of a break, don't you?"

With a reluctant sigh, the Boy Wonder finally reached out to accept his own fake identification. "And I thought the worst part of this plan was leaving Jump City in Kid Flash and Jinx's hands."

"Have no fear, Friend Robin." Starfire zipped over to grab her semiofficial boyfriend's hand and started physically dragging him towards the waiting terminal. "We will make sure you join us in the relaxing, too. We can look for a mall of shopping, and see the shows of magic and illusions, and go to an amusing park, and oh! The blue paint musicians are here! We can…"

Beast Boy snorted as the pair finally got far enough away that they could no longer be clearly heard. "Of all the things that make me almost glad I'm still single, _that_ would have to be in the top ten."

"Yep, and I've got another. You remember what Vegas is most famous for, right?" The two young men eyed each other and screamed in unison, "_Strip clubs_!" Laughing, they headed out, calling out, "Hey, guys! Wait up!"

Alone at the plane, Raven sighed as she looked between her departing friends and the luggage all four of them had completely forgotten about. Coating the suitcases in darkness and pulling her hood over her head, she hissed, "This week is going to _suck_."

* * *

Willow grumbled as Professor Lupin pulled her back up to her feet. Why could she _never_ land properly after using a portkey?

"And here I thought _I_ was clumsy," Tonks commented with a snicker.

"At least I don't constantly trip over umbrella stands," she retorted, though she was sure that the other two could tell she was not actually angry. Today had been the first time she had ever been to a wizarding travel agency, and she was understandably distracted by all the things going on around her.

For instance, the agencies themselves were nothing like she had first imagined, though she supposed she should have expected that; few things in the magical world were. Rather than just be offices where one could schedule portkeys to other countries – or for local trips, which she had been surprised to note were no less expensive than going halfway around the globe – they also served as the actual departure and arrival points. Troops of families and friends, maybe a hundred or hundred-fifty in all in this particular building, kept popping into and out of existence as they traveled the world. Much like her first trip to Diagon Alley, she wished she had many more eyes so she could take in all the extraordinary things happening around her.

"Willow." She returned her gaze to Tonks, who now looked much more serious than she had ever seen the metamorph. The elder witch whispered, "From now until we get back to Britain, you and I are Purebloods, understood? Don't tell anyone otherwise."

She blinked rapidly in shock and confusion. "…All right? Why?"

"Because in the American Confederation of Magical States, only Purebloods are permitted to carry wands. They bend that law with foreigners since so much of their tourism comes from Europe, and the International Confederation of Wizards grants Muggleborn and half-bloods more rights, but we're going to have enough attention on us already. Let's not attract any more, 'kay?"

She nodded, still not fully understanding what was going on, and Tonks flipped her currently ink-black hair, the same color as Willow's own, out of her face and stalked to a customs desk. Flashing a bright purple passport, she announced in a haughty tone, "Natalia Crowne, traveling with my sister."

Willow spared a quick glance at Lupin. Why had Tonks not mentioned him?

"Very well," the attendant replied, flipping the passport open and carelessly stamping it. "I take it the other one is your manservant? His status?"

"Werewolf."

The wizard's head shot back in surprise. "I… see." It was clear he didn't. "You _do_ have him collared, yes?"

This time it was Tonks who displayed her surprise, but the emotion flickered across her face much faster, and Willow was unsure that the attendant had noticed it. "Of course I do. You think I would let a werewolf run around without some means of controlling him?"

"One never knows with people unfamiliar to our laws," the man answered with a negligent shrug. "Just know that if he gets loose, you will be held responsible for the damages and weregild, and should you be unable to pay, he will be put down."

"I am fully aware of that." Willow had to suppress a shudder at the other witch's cold tone. It was far too close to what she had heard from various Slytherins over the years, which she supposed was where Tonks had learned it from.

"Very good. Miss?" She noticed the attendant was looking at her expectantly, and she hurried over and gave her passport to him. Glancing through it, he nodded and stamped it. "Welcome to the American Confederation of Magical States, Miss Crowne. Enjoy the rest of your birthday in our fine country."

_Birthday?_ "Thank you." He handed the passport back to her, then shot Lupin a disgusted glance before waving him through, not even taking the time to check the wizard's identification. She moved over to a nearby wall where she would be out of the way of foot traffic, Tonks and Lupin following her, and opened her passport to the front page. "Crowne, Willow L. Date of birth: 7 June, 1975. I'm supposed to be _twenty-one_?"

"Well, of course. How else are you going to binge on all the alcohol you want if you aren't old enough to drink in this country?" Tonks asked with a faux-innocent expression. "Don't worry, it's perfectly legal. Well, kind of." She groaned at that particular qualification. "A girl in Records owes me a couple of favors, and she was more than happy to repay one by providing a new ID. It's charmed to look like a nonmagical passport to any Muggles, too, so use it to your heart's content."

Willow's glare said everything she thought needed to be said. Somehow, she did not think walking around a foreign country with a fake passport was a good idea, even if it _was_ provided by the Ministry. Her displease made clear, she asked, "What did that guy mean, about the weregild and stuff?"

"It ties in to what I was saying about telling everyone we're Purebloods. Over here, unless you're Pureblood, you don't have a whole lot of rights. So if something happens to you, and provided you can't trace you lineage back a dozen generations, all someone has to do to recompense you – or, if you were killed, your family – is pay weregild, which is just a fine, and everything's hunky-dory."

"And the _'collar'_?" Lupin asked with a frown.

"No idea. That's something we'll have to look into if we get the chance."

"This is so messed up," Willow muttered. "How do you know so much about this place, anyway?"

"I had a case while I was working with Mad-Eye where the suspect fled here, and the Enforcer – what the ACMS calls their Aurors – who was assigned as our liaison told me a bit about the history while we were on a stakeout. After nineteen hours of watching the front of a Chinese restaurant, it was either talk or go insane. Anyway, from what he told me, there was a civil war in the mid-nineteenth century between the northern and southern states. The North wanted a unified government, and the South wanted each state to be more or less autonomous. Because the Southern states had so many non-humans or partial humans that they could conscript into their army, they came out as the victors, but unfortunately they were blood purists of the highest order, so their bigotry became codified into law, at least in those states. All the various states eventually gathered together into six super-states, and sadly enough, the one we're in right now is _far_ from the worst."

"What did you say about wands? Non-Purebloods can't use them?"

The metamorph shook her head. "No, they can't, but the things they've come up with to get around that restriction are pretty impressive. They mostly use potions and secondary foci, like enchanted rings and things, to accomplish specific tasks, and supposedly rituals are still allowed for the really powerful stuff. It isn't as convenient as using a wand, but after seeing some of those tools in action, I can definitely say that they're nothing to turn your nose up at. Still, I'd rather the government here not find out that we're two halfies walking around with wands, just for convenience's sake, especially since we have a _'half-breed'_ hanging around, too," she added with a glance at Lupin.

"So we have to act like we're Malfoy and his ilk?" she clarified with a grimace. Why were they spending a weekend in this place again?

"To an extent, yes, but it won't be that bad." Tonks shot her a comforting smile. "Our hotel is on Nightshade Row, which is part of the magical district, but we'll be spending most of our time on the Muggle side. Just make sure you don't use magic in public, and I promise, you'll have the best time of your life."

* * *

**Unfortunately, Britain is **_**not**_** the most bigoted magical government out there; the ACMS is **_**much**_** worse. Rather than the ICW being a magical UN, for some reason my headcanon was always that it worked more like the European Union.**

**The "FINE" acronym I got from the movie **_**The Italian Job**_**. Great flick, everyone should watch it.**

**Oh, one last thing. For those of you who've read my **_**Misunderstandings**_** duology, take heart: I'm not going to make Robin or Starfire **_**nearly**_** as much of stupid assholes here as I did in those stories. Jury's still out on Beast Boy.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	2. Benefits of Sobriety

**About the ACMS's bigotry:** I knew I was going to get flack for this, though I'm glad several others of you appreciated it. I made it this way for two reasons: first, in HP stories the magical US is always a utopia that the heroes escape to, and by now you should all know that I _love_ subverting fandom clichés, and second, speaking as someone who grew up in the Deep South, I'm pretty sure rampant state-sponsored racism is _exactly_ the kind of shit that would have happened had the Confederacy won the Civil War. There's a reason I named it the American _CONFEDERATION_ of Magical States.

**Disclaimer:** Did the Titans, all five of whom were teenagers living together with absolutely zero adult supervision, ever engage in normal teenage stupidity? If not, I own neither the Harry Potter nor the Teen Titans franchise; they belong to J.K. Rowling and DC Entertainment, respectively, as well as Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 2  
****Benefits of Sobriety**

_There are times_, Raven cynically mused as she swirled her drink, _that I almost regret growing as close to my friends as I have. Had I not, I wouldn't have to deal with all __**this**_.

The crux of the issue, she knew, was that she had the severe misfortune of being the sole introvert on the team. Starfire had needed the concept of _'peaceful solitude'_ almost literally pounded into her head, and while Cyborg and Beast Boy were much quicker learners in that regard, she had lost count of the number of times they had intruded on her privacy to drag her into some social activity. Even Robin, who was used to periods of solitude thanks to being trained by Batman, was more comfortable mingling with the group. She, however, _needed_ long spans of time spent alone, and though she told the others that she spent that time meditating, in reality most of it was simply to get away from them and restore her mental equilibrium.

With that in mind, it should not have been a surprise that her friends would continue her week of torture by dragging her to yet _another_ dance club.

_As if merely being in this blasted city weren't bad enough already_, she added with a silent huff. Her team knew that she was an empath, but she had apparently neglected to mention that it manifested itself as a secondary sense of taste. Unfortunately, the allure of the Strip could not cover up the seedy underbelly of the rest of the city, and the poignant mixture of guilt, anger, lust, and sorrow that coated her tongue made for an _extremely_ unappetizing combination. The resulting week-long fast she had been forced to undertake did little to improve her already foul mood.

She flung her head back and quaffed the last mouthful of sweet black rum, already her twelfth glass of the night. To make matters worse, she was incapable of getting drunk like her male friends. Due to being the child of a demon, her physiology was remarkably different from a human's, meaning that she processed numerous substances, alcohol included, in a fairly unpredictable fashion. At least in this, though, she was not alone, as Starfire was likewise unaffected.

That was probably a good thing. The Tamaranean was already _'drunk on life'_ enough for the both of them.

"Hey, you. Hey!" Raven turned her gaze to a blond man approaching her. The trained crime-fighter part of her mind idly noted his lean build and lack of distinguishing metahuman traits and decided that he was not a threat. "Pretty thing like you shouldn't be sitting at the bar alone. Wanna dance?"

She looked away, interest already lost. "Sorry, I don't dance."

"Come on." He slid closer, and she nearly gagged as the taste of buttery, rotting strawberries filled her mouth. "I promise I'll make it worth your time."

_Amusement. Hatred. Lust. Put them together with the location, and best guess? He's an amateur pickup artist who uses his sexual conquests to stoke the flame of his misogyny._ "I said no. Go try your luck somewhere else."

"At least let me buy you a drink," he demanded, all but shoving a glass of some green liquor into her hand.

Her eyebrow twitched, and it was only the sound of a few bottles breaking behind her that prevented her from lambasting the pushy man in his red leather jacket. Instead she gulped the liquid down, grimacing as the appletini joined the mishmash of flavors already present, and slammed the glass onto the counter. "There, you bought me a drink. Now go away and _leave me alone_."

"Bitch," he sneered before stalking away.

_As if you're one to talk_. Beckoning the bartender over, she asked, "Another one, please."

"I don't know," he muttered in reply even as he pulled the bottle – thankfully not one her fit of pique had destroyed – from the shelf. "You've already had a bunch of them. Most girls wouldn't even be able to stand up after all that."

She sighed. "Unfortunately, I am still _entirely_ too sober." He nodded in reluctant agreement and handed the filled glass over. Her first sip had her blinking in surprise; that was the same bottle her previous sample had come from, and yet this one tasted completely different. She took a sniff, but the smell was just as she remembered.

_Well, this __**is**__ a mystery_, she decided. _I wonder what caused this? And is it related to why my mouth is suddenly tingling?_

* * *

"…And _that'sh_ why I'm not happy with Wolfie right now," Tonks declared, her finger wavering unsteadily in the air. "He'sh too full of himself. And saying I can't handle myself if he _'looses control'_ when he'sh changed? That just s'not right. I'm a bleeding _Auror_; I bet I can handle him better than _he_ can."

Willow giggled at that; why had she never noticed how _funny_ the metamorph was? "I _know_," she confided in a loud whisper. "Didja know he taught my… third year? But yeah, he never said he was best mates with my dad in all that time. I don't like people lying to me, you know."

"Just terrible." Tonks raised her half-empty glass for a toast, and after a few attempts, they finally clinked their drinks together. "And he'sh one of the _better_ guys I know. Bloody gits, every single one of 'em."

She nodded, gulping down her martini and spilling more of it on her little black dress – her _'come over here and shag me dress'_, Tonks had called it in the store that morning – than she managed to get in her mouth. "That's why I swore off boys altogether. Just girls for this girl."

"But what about, you know? The _fun_ stuff?" the older witch tittered.

"I… don't know?" She thought for a moment; had she and her recent ex-girlfriend done the _'fun stuff'_? Did snogging count? "Never came up."

Tonks shot her a disappointed pout. "That'sh no fun. You're, like, supposed to be my little sister or something. You do naughty stuff and tell me about it, and I make sure you do it better next time and don't get in trouble. Or something. That's what big sisters do, isn't it?"

"Don't ask me. I'm an only child, and Dud… Dul… Dinky Diddliddlums always _wanted_ to get me in trouble."

"Well, that'sh cause those Muggles are the worst, and I thought my dad's Aunt Christina was bad." Apparently getting an idea, Tonks grabbed her arm. "Hey, hey. Why don't you send a letter to You-Know-Who and tell him where they live? Then you'd get to live somewhere else."

"But aren't we supposed to be _fighting_ him?" she asked in confusion. "Or are we fighting someone else now? Cause I don't think I'd like to be friends with him." Glancing to see if anyone was listening, she leaned closer. "He doesn't have a _nose_."

They both broke out in another fit of giggles at that. Looking around, Tonks grinned happily. "Oh, now _he'sh_ dishy. Sure you don't do guys anymore?" She nodded, and the metamorph shakily stood. "Well, more for me, then. Go ahead and Disapparate back to our room when you wanna leave. I'll be back in the morning."

"Okay." Tonks stumbled away, and she could barely hold back her laugh. The older witch had had _way_ too much to drink. Not like her; she had only had… eight? Ten? She couldn't remember, either.

"Wait. I don't know how to Apparate. Tonks!" She peered at the direction she thought her kind-of cousin had gone, but she couldn't see her in the mass of bodies. _Tonks has blue hair, doesn't she?_, she wondered as she searched for someone looking like that. _Or was it red? Wait, can't she change it?_ "Welp. I'm fucked."

If she was going to be stuck here until Tonks remembered to come back and get her, she might as well enjoy herself. She had had more fun the past two days than she could remember ever having before; was there any way she could convince someone to let her move here? Eyeing the dance floor, she smiled as she spotted an unusual-looking girl in the crowd. She stood and immediately had to grab onto her chair to catch herself even as she sent a glare at her feet; when had the floor started moving?

Shaking that thought away, though she _was_ going to complain to the manager about it, she stumbled into the crush of people and pushed a few men and women out of her way, some of them getting shoved away without her needing to touch them when they would not move fast enough. Finally she reached her goal and shouted to be heard over the pounding beat, "Hey! I like your dancing!"

"Thanks!" the woman in the sleek blue dress said, her short purple hair swinging around wildly. "I didn't know I could dance!"

"You can!" she affirmed. "And you're really pretty, too!"

"Really?" The mystery woman looked down at herself, paying especially close attention to the grey skin of her hands. "Most people say I look creepy. Are you sure it's not just because you're drunk?"

"I'm not drunk. You're just pretty," Willow repeated, now knowing exactly what was going on. Hermione and Luna did not think they were pretty, either, despite being two of the most beautiful girls she knew. She reached out and grabbed onto the woman's waist, both of them now swaying to the music. "And I really want to dance with you."

Her dancing partner cooed at her – actually _cooed_! Was she related to Hedwig? – and pulled her closer, the pupils of her eyes so wide that Willow could barely tell that they were the same color as her hair. "I want to dance with you, too, even if you _are_ drunk."

"I'm not drunk!" she repeated with a laugh, snuggling deeper into the woman's arms. How long had it been since someone had held her like this? Since Tonks had kidnapped her? Her breakup immediately prior to leaving Hogwarts? It was very, _very_ nice, regardless.

A hand grabbed at her roughly, and a man's voice shouted, "Hey, what are you doing?! That's my girl!"

"Watch it!" Her partner pulled her away from the man. "She's mine, and you can't have her! Wait…" The woman peered closer. "Didn't you give me a drink?"

"Yeah, I did! And you're supposed to be knocked out by now!" he screamed back, his face swiftly turning red to match his jacket.

"You look like my uncle Vernon," she pointed out helpfully. "Not as fat, though, but that's a good thing. He's big as a whale."

"I don't even know you. And it tasted terrible, anyway." The woman waved her hand in the man's direction, and a flicker of black… something flashed between them. He skidded back a few feet before falling into another dancing couple. "Now go away before I have to clap you in irons."

Willow giggled, watching him scurry away. "_'Clap you in irons'_? Are you a pirate, too?"

"No, I'm a superhero, but my teammate watches a lot of bad movies. It's really irritating." Her defender spun her around in a circle before pulling her back so their bodies could rub together. "My name's Raven."

"Raven. _Ra_-ven. Ra-_veeeeen_." The woman chuckled as she tried the name out to find what sounded the best. "I'm Willow."

"A pretty name for a pretty girl." She blushed at the compliment. "Dance with me some more?"

She could only nod happily.

* * *

"…Nice catch there, Willow!…"

"…What about here? This looks like a good place…"

"…Here's one your size!…"

"…I've never done something like this before…"

"…But I don't _like_ gold!…"

"…We are gathered here together…"

"…Raven, you're supposed to wait till _after_…"

"…If anyone has any reason why these two should not…"

"…There! Faster! Oh God, yes!…"

"…Speak now or forever hold your peace…"

"…Hold me closer, love…"

"…You may now kiss the bride…"

* * *

The sunlight streaming in from the window sent a shaft of pure pain stabbing into Raven's eyes, and she groaned loudly as she rolled away. Or at least she tried to; before she could get anywhere, the slim arm that was draped around her waist jerked and pulled her closer until she could feel the warm body of her bedmate. Her _female_ bedmate, if the two lumps of flesh pressing against her back were any indication.

What in Azar's name had _happened_ last night?

_I was drinking at the bar, and… there was a man? My memory's fuzzy, but I remember him handing me a glass, and then feeling strange. Hot and itchy. Was there something in that drink? I waded into the crowd, and… Was I really making an idiot of myself dancing? Yes, I __**had**__ to have been drugged. There is no way I would have done that if I possessed all my faculties._

_That is as much as I can recall. Everything after that is fragmented. There's no telling what we did._ Glancing at the clothes scattered about her hotel room, especially the lacy black panties hanging from the light fixture that she _knew_ were not hers, she amended, _Well, no telling what we did aside from the obvious._

"This can't possibly get any worse," she croaked through parched lips.

Unfortunately, she had tempted fate, and so her communicator chose that moment to ring with a horribly shrill tone. _Was it always this bad, or is being hungover just making it that much worse?_, she wondered as she beckoned it to float over. Her sleeping partner snuffled and buried her face between Raven's shoulder blades to hide from the noise. Flipping the yellow disc open and positioning it so that it would not show her current state of disrobement, she growled, "The world had better be ending in the next five minutes, or so help me…"

_"Did someone have a little too much fun last night?"_ Robin all but yelled, laughing at her squinting glare. _"I was just calling to make sure you weren't dead in a ditch somewhere."_

"If that had been the case, I wouldn't have been able to answer my communicator, now would I?" He grinned, then laughed again as her bedmate – and what _was_ her name?! Something that started with a 'W'? – slipped one slim arm northwards and squeezed, causing her to squeak. Because this humiliation just was _not_ complete without being groped in front of the leader of the Titans. Taking in his deviant smile, she warned, "Not. _One_. Word."

_"Am I, uh, __**interrupting**__ something?"_

"Robin, I am a sorceress, and the only defenses you have against magic are the ones I gave you. Do you _really_ want to keep tempting me to do something _you_ will regret?"

_"All right, all right, I can tell when I'm not wanted. I'll just go bug Cyborg and Beast Boy, then."_

"What did you say?" She blinked a few times as a memory strived earnestly to rise through her foggy mind. "They were with us?"

Her teammate nodded on the little screen. _"Yeah, all three of you left the club together, and you all had someone with you. I was a bit surprised to see how it all fell out, actually,"_ he added as an afterthought, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Please, then, go bother them. I need to… _deal_ with this situation." He gave one last annoyingly loud chuckle and signed off, leaving her alone to extricate herself from the clingy woman's grasp. After several moments of twisting and doing her best not to disturb her previous night's paramour, she finally gave up and slipped into the darkness of her soul, allowing her to phase through the bed unhindered. Now free, she could finally see just whom she had found so enticing in her inebriated state.

_She's… younger than I would have expected_, Raven mused as she looked down at the black-haired girl. _Maybe early twenties, if __**that**__ old. More likely, she had a false ID and is in her late teens._ She grinned to herself and shook her head. _And who am __**I**__ to criticize her for that, all things considered?_

The young woman shifted a little, and a glint in the morning light grabbed her attention. Her one-night stand was wearing a plain silver ring on her left hand.

Raven's already depressed mood plummeted like a stone cast from a cliff. _**Wonderful**__. Not only did I sleep with a stranger while intoxicated, I chose one who is __**married**__. You've fallen to an all-new low, Raven; your father would be __**so**__ proud._ Chasing away her self-deprecating thoughts, she looked at her dress before choosing to do without. For better or worse, she had nothing the other woman had not seen and touched before, and she needed to take a shower and drink several gallons of water before she felt comfortable braving the rest of the world. If nothing else, it would give her more time to figure out what to do.

Her priorities arranged, she walked towards the open door of the bathroom, but before she could take three steps, what felt like a strand of barbed wire looped around her heart _twanged_, and she was unceremoniously jerked backwards and to the floor. Behind her, the sleeping woman yelped, and the subsequent thud told Raven that she had rolled off the bed. _What was __**that**__?!_

"Bloody hell," the girl muttered, and Raven could not help but notice the word choice and accent marking her as British. "Ow. What happened? And where am I?"

_May as well get this over with_. "Much as I would love to tell you what happened, I'm afraid that I am as much in the dark as you," she replied, turning around to look at the girl. Bright green eyes, narrowed to ward off the light, stared back at her in shock. "Where we are, however, I thankfully _do_ know. I apparently brought you back to my hotel room sometime last night."

"But why are you… And I'm…" The girl trailed off, looking down at her bare body before returning her panicked gaze to Raven. "Did we…?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I do believe we slept together." There, that was the best way to address the situation: matter of fact and to the point. The sooner they went their separate ways, the sooner they could push away the embarrassment of their inappropriate liaison. Taking in the girl's dropped jaw and trembling arms, she added, "I do apologize for my part in violating your vows to your husband, but in both our defense, I doubt either one of us was in a state conducive to making good choices last night."

That seemed to shock the young bride out of her haze. "My… What? I don't _have_ a husband."

_Ah. Considering the evidence, her being married to a man would make little sense._ "My apologies again. Still, husband or wife, I believe my point stands."

"No, that's not what I'm saying. _I'm not married_. I don't know why you think I am."

Raising her right hand, she pointed at the girl's left. "The ring on your finger implies otherwise."

"Ring?" The young woman gaped at the silver band and softly whispered, "Oh Merlin, what is this?"

One of Raven's eyebrows quirked upwards. _'Oh Merlin'? Now __**that**__ is an interesting oath_.

Looking back at her, the girl's eyes widened. "Oh. I think I know what happened now. You, er, might want to take a look at yourself." Raven followed her gaze and cursed upon spotting a matching ring to the girl's on her _own_ hand.

"Well… This can't be good."

* * *

_Wow. Note to self, I __**really**__ need to cut back on my drinking_. Tonks shook her head and sat up, the sheet falling from around her to reveal her body to the world, or at least to the sleeping man in the bed next to her. Taking in his dark skin, and more importantly the gleaming blue metal that she would swear was somehow fused to his flesh, she swore. _This just gets better and better. Not only did I shack up with some stranger, I brought a Muggle to a magical hotel. Damn it, I __**hate**__ Obliviating people._

_Nothing else to do for it, though._ She spotted her wand laying on the bedside table and picked it up. "Sorry about this, but I don't know how much you saw. When I get you back to your place, I promise I'll give you a great new memory of last night to make up for it. _Obliviate_."

The pale blue light washed over his face, and she sighed. _That's that, now just to find out where_—

She never got to finish her thought; the glass over his left eye suddenly glowed red, and he bucked in the bed before slamming a metal boot into her belly. The room spun for a moment before she smashed into the far wall. Nails stabbing into her heart made her gasp in sudden pain, and she was dragged back towards the bed. _Okay, that's not right. No more Miss Nice Auror._

"What the hell?!" he yelled, standing up and looking around. "Where am I? What did you just try to do to me?!" She was silent, still trying to regain the wind he had knocked out of her, and he stepped a little closer with a concerned look on his face. "Hey, you okay?"

"Just dandy. _Stupefy_!" With reflexes faster than any civilian she had ever seen, he leapt out of the way of the scarlet hex, his right arm reshaping itself, and she grit her teeth. _This just keeps getting better and better_.

The blue beam that crashed against her hastily cast shield only reinforced that thought.

_That wasn't magic_. All Aurors were trained to recognize the feel of active magic, an essential skill for detecting wards and curses, and that blast had none of the soft _thrum_ she would normally expect. So it wasn't magic, but what it _was_…? Before they could exchange another round of attacks, a ringing caught their attention. The man raised his left arm, his single visible eye never leaving hers, and spoke to the empty air, "Now really isn't a good time."

_"Hello, Friend Cyborg!"_ came a chipper woman's voice from the metal sleeving his arm. _"Friend Robin agreed that I could take part in his playing of the prank and talk loudly to you while you were 'hanging over'. You already seem to be awake, though."_

"Yeah. Starfire, do you mind if I call you back? There's somethin' I have to take care of."

_"Oh, yes, of course. I did not mean to interrupt you in the enjoyment of intercourse. I am sorry. I will call back later."_

The man – _Cyborg_, she repeated with a mental smile, _finally a worse name than 'Nymphadora'_ – raised his eyebrow. "Huh? Starfire, what do you mean by that? You know the woman in here?"

"_'The woman'_ has a name," she pointed out tersely.

_"I am afraid I do not know her, but I watched you lead her out of the club of dancing we were visiting last night. Both of you appeared quite unbalanced, but Robin informed me that this was normal for humans after drinking excessive amounts of alcohol and that my interference would be most unwelcome."_ Tonks gave Cyborg's arm a curious glance, quickly revising her previous opinion about what to do. If he was already aware of magical beings – and the woman's speech certainly implied that he was – then there was no reason for her to muddle with his memories, after all.

The golden ring gleaming on his left hand was a complication, of course, but that was something to be dealt with _after_ everything else.

_It definitely makes my job easier, that's for sure_. Waving her wand, which understandably made the metal-clad man tense up, she summoned the sheet that had previously covered them and wrapped it around herself. No reason to continue giving the guy a free show.

"Thanks for the info, Star." He lowered his arm. "Now, I don't know what you think you were doin'—"

"I really am sorry about that." Her apology caught him off-guard, and she shot him a weak smile. "If I had known that you were in the know, I wouldn't have tried to modify your memories."

"You shouldn't be modifying _anybody's_ memories," he spat out.

She shrugged helplessly. "I don't _like_ doing it, but I have to uphold the law. Any Muggle who finds out about the Wizarding World has to have the relevant memories erased. Again, if I'd known beforehand that you were an exception…"

"Wizarding World?" he asked carefully, a confused look on his face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"You… don't know?" He slowly shook his head in negation, and she sighed. "Of course not. That'd make things _too_ easy. And I suppose if I asked nicely, you still wouldn't cooperate, would you?"

"Sorry, but that's not in the cards," Cyborg answered, the circle at the end of his right arm glowing ominously.

Running through the very few options available to her at the moment – why did she have to end up in this situation while hungover, naked, and in a foreign country? – she eventually just sighed. "You know what? Screw it. Let's grab a cuppa, I'll tell you what you need to know, and we can avoid having a rematch. It's too early in the morning for this shite."

* * *

An annoying buzzing dragged Remus from his sleep. _What is that?_, he wondered when he saw a yellow, circular object shaking and sliding toward the edge of the bedside table. After a moment, it fell off and out of sight.

Something warm pressed against him, and he sighed. This was _exactly_ what he had been trying to avoid. "Tonks, I'm sorry, but this has to be a one-time deal. You have your entire life ahead of you, and you shouldn't waste it with someone like me. I'm just not right for you."

A loud snore was his only answer.

_Okay, that __**is**__ funny_, he thought with a smile. _If Sirius_… He had to stop that train of thought; the loss of his best and last friend was still too sharp. Twisting around to wake the woman, he looked down and blinked in confusion. This was an unusual shape for her to take.

A second glance caused him to pale dramatically. If Tonks had been telling the truth when she mentioned that she could not change genders… then this wasn't Tonks.

With a yawn, the green boy opened his eyes and stared at Remus. Remus stared back at the green boy.

"_Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah_!"

* * *

**Oh, Raven. Don't you know the first rule of going out? **_**Never**_** accept drinks from strangers.**

**I've done unreliable narrators. I've done uninformed narrators. I've done pissing-their-pants-in-terror narrators. This is the first time I've ever done a **_**drunk**_** narrator. Because Willow was **_**hammered**_**.**

**I suppose a little explanation is in order, isn't it? Honestly, something I've always wanted to do as a writer was create a story that had the main characters in het, slash, and femslash pairings all at the same time. **_**Vegas**_** was just the perfect excuse.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	3. For Want of a Memory

**Manic Dogma:** Originally I was going to have Willow be _much_ more overtly emotional about the situation, but I couldn't get the scene to flow when I tried that. Well, that and Raven isn't necessarily the best person to turn to for comforting. Instead, feel free to assume she was too shocked and hungover to muster up the necessary dramatics right then and had a little freak-out off-screen.

**SuperSaiyanPrince:** It's been over a decade since I watched any Justice League media, so I could very well be wrong, but I find it _highly_ difficult to believe that the League would have the authority to order changes in the workings of _any_ government, corrupt or not. So no, while in this story they do know about the Wizarding World thanks to Zatanna (and potentially Doctor Fate), and several members dislike what happens in that culture, there is quite frankly nothing they can do about it.

**Disclaimer:** Was the necessity of Harry competing in the Triwizard Tournament hand-waved away with claims of a _'binding magical contract'_ without anyone once asking what the consequences of violating that contract were? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter or Teen Titans franchises; they belong to J.K. Rowling and DC Entertainment, respectively, as well as Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 3  
****For Want of a Memory**

The water spraying from the shower head beat a steady tattoo on Willow's shoulders as she pressed her forehead against the tiled wall. She should have known something like this was going to happen. Not the marriage part, of course – no one could have possibly foreseen _that_ – but had she been thinking, she would have realized that some horrible twist was in her future. Her first visit to a zoo had been followed by being locked in her cupboard for days on end, discovering she was a witch came with entering a world where she was alternately idolized and reviled, finding her godfather meant watching him be on the run and take her dreams of leaving the Dursleys with him, finally getting to live with him for a single glorious year ended in his murder… She had enjoyed her two days in Las Vegas, the most fun she had probably ever had, and like a fool she had thought that crossing an ocean would let her escape her curse, but it was not to be.

Sooner or later, the other shoe _always_ dropped.

"If your goal is to drown yourself, you might be better served by turning your face _towards_ the water."

She grit her teeth and forced herself not to respond to the taunt. While she had never had plans for what her her wedding would be like – honestly, there were times she doubted she would live long enough to graduate Hogwarts, let alone whatever life threw at her afterwards – if she had to decide who her future spouse was going to be, her choice would _not_ have been the individual she was now saddled with. They had spoken for only a few minutes, but already she was getting tired of Raven's disinterested voice and mocking barbs. Were it not for the woman's coloration marking her as someone not quite human, Willow would have bet a whole bag of gold that she would have fit right in with Parkinson's little clique.

A loud chirping filled the room, and she turned her head to see the other woman's silhouette manipulate something in her hand. "Raven here."

_"Raven, thank God,"_ a man's voice replied. _"I need your help. I've got this woman here tryin' to convince me that she's part of a secret society of magicians. I can vouch for her havin' powers of some kind, but you bein' a sorceress and all, I thought you could make sure she's not just crazy or somethin'."_

The purple-haired woman sighed. "Very well. I will listen to what she has to say, but I can't guarantee anything one way or another. There are numerous magical organizations, and my not recognizing which is referring to does not mean that it does not exist. Nor, however, does it mean that it _does_, either."

_"Well, that's less than promisin'."_ A few heavy steps sounded through the room, and he continued, _"I've got my friend on the line. Tell her what you told me about this club you're part of."_

_"It's not a __**club**__; it's the whole Wizarding World. If she's a witch, she'll know that. Now how am I supposed to talk through this thing?"_

Willow's eyes widened. She _knew_ that voice. Sliding open the frosted glass door enough to poke her head out, she called, "_Tonks_? Is that you?"

_"Willow?!"_

"I take it you two know each other?" asked the grey blur, all the detail she could make out about her… about Raven without putting on her glasses.

"Er, yeah." She frowned as she realized that without Tonks dragging her out of Britain, she would not currently be showering in another woman's hotel room and wearing a wedding band. "She's the one who got me into this whole mess."

_"Hey, don't blame me. I didn't force you to drink as much as you did. Besides, I've got some additional problems on my end at the moment, so count your lucky stars that you got off easy."_

Raven hummed in thought. "_'Additional problems'_, you say? Cyborg, did you and Tonks wind up getting married last night, too?"

The man sighed. _"Unfortunately. I always thought that was just an urban legend or some— Wait, what do you mean, 'we got married, __**too**__'? Did you…?"_

"Apparently, I am now Raven Crowne. Joy."

"Not… necessarily," Willow said hesitantly. Shoring up her Gryffindor courage, she continued, "My name isn't really Willow Crowne, you see, so that might not be what's on the certificate."

"So what _is_ your name, then?" the other woman drawled.

"It… It's Potter. I'm Willow Potter." She cringed, bracing for the usual reaction. Every magical she had ever met, even Luna in her own unique way, had been shocked and awed when she introduced herself, excepting of course the Death Eaters who made it no secret that they wanted her dead. That was easily the best part of having a fake name on her passport; no one knew who she really was over here, and for once she had been able to experience what it felt like to be just a normal person. Now, however, that defense was gone. How would the American witch respond to discovering her identity?

If she were really as arrogant and self-important as Snape always claimed, she would have been sorely disappointed. "That's nice," Raven replied, waving her hand and catching a small blob that changed from black to bright violet once she grasped it. "I take it your name isn't the only misinformation on here, is it? Your age, perhaps?"

"…Yes, that's fake, too."

"I figured." The other woman shrugged. "I can't exactly hold that against you. I am only eighteen, myself, regardless of what my driver's license claims."

_"Willow's fifteen."_

"Tonks!" she screeched, her face flushed with embarrassment. Raven jerked, though whether at the information or her yell she did not know, and she clarified, "But I'll turn sixteen at the end of the month."

"This is _fantastic_," Raven muttered, her sarcasm so thick only a deaf man would miss it. "Not only was I drugged, I married a _child_. This day could not possibly get any worse."

_"Guys, guys! I need help here, pronto!"_

"…And clearly I spoke too soon."

_"Beast Boy, cool your jets a sec,"_ Cyborg commanded. _"Now, take a breath and tell us what's got you so excited."_

The high-pitched voice continued undaunted, _"It's horrible! I woke up, and Mad Mod's grandson or something must have abducted me! You gotta get me out of here!"_

_"I didn't abduct you! This is __**your**__ hotel room!"_

"Professor Lupin?" _"Wolfie?"_ she and Tonks demanded together in astonishment.

_"There's __**more**__ of them?! Quick, call Robin! Call the cops! Call PETA!"_

"That. Is. _Enough_!" Raven thundered, everyone going quiet at her sudden flare of anger. The lightbulb above her and Willow's heads exploding and plunging the pair into semi-darkness only reinforced the strength behind her command. "Cyborg, Ms. Tonks isn't crazy; there is indeed a relatively large magical society that exists alongside our own. Beast Boy, you were not abducted; you became inebriated last night, as I warned you that you would, and obviously invited your own guest into your room and your bed."

_"No, I didn't! I'm not gay!"_

Lupin was quick to deny, _"Neither am I!"_

"_Regardless_ of your usual preferences, do either of you have a better explanation?" Neither man said anything to that question, so Raven continued, "This is not something we should discuss over the comms. Let us meet downstairs in the lobby and talk. Is half an hour acceptable for everyone?" There was some scattered muttering. "Good. We can deal with this then. Raven out."

The woman snapped shut the yellow blob in her hand and grumbled something under her breath, though it was too quiet for Willow to make out. Deciding to extend an olive branch, she offered, "Do you want a shower before we head down, too?"

"Yes, please. I would rather not smell like cigarettes, sweat, and sex any longer than necessary." She nodded, but before she could pull her head back into the spray, Raven added, "However, I can wait until you are finished. I do not want to see any more of your body than I already have."

Willow barely managed to keep herself from slamming the glass door closed. _So much for trying to be nice_.

* * *

Cyborg gratefully took the cup of coffee the currently green-haired woman handed him. Today had been full of shocks, and none of them exactly good. Getting drunk and married in Vegas was actually quite possible and not just something seen on TV; there was an entire magical culture hiding in the shadows – and one that condoned mind control, apparently, something that understandably unnerved him considering his run-ins with Brother Blood; those same people got around by squeezing themselves through tight, extremely uncomfortable invisible straws; and Raven had an eye for teenage girls.

_Okay, that last one's not fair_, he noted as the elevator doors across the lobby from the little café opened to reveal Raven, wearing her normal cloak and leotard, and a young woman in a little black dress. _She doesn't really look like she's underage; if she said she was eighteen, I'd probably give her the benefit of the doubt_. Beckoning the pair over to the table he and Tonks had claimed, he greeted, "You must be Willow."

The spectacled girl brushed her dark locks out of her face – and he couldn't help but stare briefly at her silver ring; how in the world had they gotten into this mess? – and nodded. "Yes, and you're… Cyborg, right?"

"And I'm Tonks," said woman added with a small wave to his teammate.

Raven gave Tonks a quick searching look. "Raven. Charmed."

"Figuratively, I hope," he added in a light tone, hoping to make this situation less awkward. At the moment, he would take anything he could get. Tonks rolled her eyes with a quiet snicker, and to his surprise, both Raven and Willow simply shook their heads. _That they share some similarities could be a very good thing_, he thought to himself. _Even after we get this weirdness settled, maybe they could be pen-pals or somethin'. Raven could use a friend who's reserved like she is; goodness knows she can't find one at the Tower_.

The elevators dinged again, and this time Beast Boy exited, next to him an Englishman with greying hair and a gaunt face. The two men immediately separated, taking a couple of steps to the sides. On their way over to the table, one of them would occasionally move a bit farther away from the other, and they would both be jerked back together. Eyeing the pair suspiciously, he turned to Raven. "I'm guessin' you and Willow have the same thing goin' on where you can't get more than ten feet away from each other?"

"Unfortunately."

Beast Boy and his 'friend' arrived and took their chairs, and despite knowing Tonks for less than an hour, he could tell that the glint in her eyes when she leaned forwards could only mean bad news. His late mother would get the same look before she ripped someone a new one. "You know, Remus, if you _really_ didn't want to go out with me, you _could_ have just manned up and told me you weren't interested. I'm a big girl; I can handle rejection."

"It wasn't like that!"

"Oh, really?" the woman drawled, glancing between the man and the other shapeshifter at the table while her hair changed from emerald to the same jet as Willow's. "That's not what it looks like to me."

"Okay, you two, head back to your corners." They shot him angry and confused looks before settling down, the latter emotion displayed on Willow's face as well. Four Titans, these three newcomers, and he was still the only boxing fan? "It appears that all six of us had a bit of a weird time last night," he continued, raising his left hand. Three gold and two silver rings gleamed back at him. "So, let's start at the beginnin'. Does anyone have any idea what happened?"

After a moment, Raven spoke up. "I spent a few minutes trying to piece together the string of events while preparing for this meeting, and I can vaguely remember the six of us leaving the club and entering the magical side of the town. It isn't much, but it gives us a smaller area to search for clues."

"It would have to be the east side," Remus added. When they looked to the ill-looking man for further clarification, he shrugged self-consciously and explained, "I did a bit of exploring while you two were shopping, and from the people I talked to, the western half of the city is primarily for Purebloods. Considering my condition and our companions being Muggles – nonmagical individuals," he clarified for Cyborg and Beast Boy, though Tonks had explained that and more to the robotic hero already, "we would not have been welcomed there. The east, however, is decidedly more liberal."

"Condition?!" the green vigilante exclaimed, latching on to the exact wrong part of the statement. "You're sick? Did you give it to me? Is it deadly? Tell me there's a cure!"

Remus had grown steadily paler as Beast Boy rambled on, and seeing this, Cyborg leaned to the side and smacked the back of his annoying friend's head. "BB, stay focused."

"Yeah, yeah, all right." Brightening, the polymorph asked, "Hey, you can take videos, can't you? Maybe that has some answers."

"Did you actually have a good idea?" Raven asked in a faux-surprised tone. "What have you done with the real Beast Boy, and can we make this exchange permanent?"

"Dude. Not cool."

"I dunno, I thought it was pretty funny," the metal man interjected, most of his attention on the screen in his left arm as he scrolled through the video files he had recorded. Finding one with that day's date and a timestamp for early that morning, he said, "Here we go. This is the only one I have, but it should—"

"—_Oh Merlin, harder! Right there, give it to—"_

"—_Not_ be what we're looking for!" he hurriedly exclaimed, jabbing his finger at the stop button. His face flaming red, he glanced around and was quite thankful to see that everyone else at the table was blushing hard as well. "Uh, so, um… Yeah, I got nothin'."

Willow cleared her throat uncomfortably, one hand waving at the pink staining her cheeks. "Maybe this is a stupid question, but how many magical chapels are there?" They looked at her curiously, and she quickly glanced away. "I mean, we all had _some_ kind of spell cast on us, and Raven remembers us going to the magical district. That's where we're staying, and it's not that big, especially with half of it already ruled out. So how many places do we really have to look, even if we can't figure anything else out?"

"Huh. That's a very good question." Tonks threw an arm around the girl. "We'll make a proper Auror out of you yet," she declared, to which Willow gave a weak grin.

"Unless anyone else has any relevant information to share, we should start our search quickly. The sooner we find out what enchantment was laid upon us, the faster we can have it dismantled. Not to mention, we will probably be able to file for annulments while we are there," Raven proclaimed. When no one said anything, she continued, "Then let us depart. I can teleport us to just inside the east district's entrance, and from there we can start a systematic search."

"Let's head upstairs first," Cyborg added, his organic eye shifting towards the various people coming and going through the lobby. From what he had observed over the week, hero-wannabes were common enough in Vegas that hitting the town while dressed in spandex would not attract too much attention on its own, but actively _using_ powers was an entirely different story.

A giant bird formed from interdimensional darkness? There was no way they would escape getting noticed.

His half-demon teammate nodded, understanding as she always did where his thoughts were going. "Yes, you have a point." She and Willow stood first and walked back to the elevators, Beast Boy and Remus right behind them. When Tonks rose, however, he lifted one hand for her to stop.

"Quick question," he began, the woman's nose wrinkling cutely as her hair shifted to a sunshine-yellow. "What was all that between you and Remus? I know it wouldn't normally be any of my business, but since we're essentially joined at the hip for the moment…"

"Oh, yeah. That." She sighed and shook her head. "It's just annoying. I've been interested in him for the past year or so, you see. I waited for him to mention it – I'm not exactly _subtle_ when it comes to me fancying blokes – and when he didn't, I asked him out myself, maybe seven months ago. He turned me down, but the thing is, he never said _no_; it was always excuses, so while it probably wasn't his intention, I held out hope that he was debating it with himself and that eventually he'd come around. I thought he was just uncomfortable with the age difference, which I can kind of understand." A faint frown graced her lips as she added, "To be honest, I _was_ getting tired of being strung along. When I saw him with your teammate, I just… It all came out in rush."

"Makes sense. There won't be any issues between you and either him or Beast Boy while we're looking around, though, will there?" he asked carefully. It was unfortunate that they all knew practically nothing about the other group, but those were the cards they were dealt, and right now they had to work together if they wanted to get anything done.

She smiled at him and waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, it's fine. I mean, I can hold a grudge with the best of them, but something like this? It's not worth the effort. Besides," she added with a sly smirk, "what do I have to complain about? I'll still be walking around with a nice bit of eye-candy, anyway."

He snorted in amusement. "Thanks, I think."

"Don't mention it."

* * *

"You know how I implied there couldn't be that many magical chapels?" Willow asked as they walked out the door. "Forget I said anything."

So far, they had learned three important pieces of information. First, the east side of magical Las Vegas was primarily owned, run, and visited by Muggleborns and half-bloods. Second, those witches and wizards, being much closer to their Muggle roots, had the same fascination with marriages that the nonmagical population did.

And third, each chapel was able to tell them _far_ too many tales of drunk weddings, just not theirs.

Tonks grumbled, "I'd be more willing to forgive you for that if you had said it earlier. Eight places, and we _still_ don't know where we got hitched. I'm really starting to hate this town."

"You're not the only one," Cyborg agreed tiredly. "Where's the next one?"

"Just up ahead. The Cathedral of the Chalice," replied Lupin as he squinted to make out the location.

In front of them, a green bloodhound shuffled back and forth across the road a few times before melting back into the form of Beast Boy. Willow would likely be feeling the loss of Sirius more acutely considering the man's ability were she, along with her compatriots, not still in shock about him having multiple Animagus forms. That he claimed to be nonmagical just made the whole thing even stranger. "Hey, guys? I could be wrong, but this place smells familiar. This might be it."

"Of course you would think it smells familiar. The entire street reeks of old beer, vomit, and wet dog," Raven groused, her blue cloak wrapped tightly around her, and Willow just shook her head. Finding out shortly before they left the hotel room that she was married to an actual superhero was a shock – Britain did not host many in the first place, and the Dursleys had always derided the public for adoring the _'costumed freaks'_, the only people she was sure they hated more than her – but much of the luster had already been stripped away by the woman's acerbic tongue.

To her surprise, Cyborg sighed and turned around. "Look, Raven, I get that you're upset about this. _All_ of us are. But that _doesn't_ mean you have to take it out on us."

"You are right. I'm sorry," the grey woman finally murmured to the group. Willow had to keep herself from gaping at the admission. "Being bound like this just… brings back bad memories. That does not, however, excuse my rudeness."

"Hey, it's okay. We're all a bit on edge," Tonks said with a shrug. "Just look on the bright side. If… Beast Boy… is right and this _is_ the place, that means we're almost done. We can all head our separate ways soon."

Their spirits buoyed by that reminder, the group advanced to the doors of the Cathedral, which other than its name and the white and gold sign placed out front looked little different from the buildings surrounding it. Lupin opened the door and peered inside before entering, and the others followed quietly.

Willow cringed once she started looking around; the lobby they found themselves in could have come right out of a nightmare. There were enough lacy streamers strewn about to strangle a whole herd of hippogriffs, and the puddles of pink frills were giving her horrible flashbacks to Umbridge's reign of terror. She had thought Madam Puddifoot's was bad, but this place was even _worse_. "Okay, looks like no one's home. Let's leave. Now."

"Not until we get some answers," Beast Boy denied, stepping forwards and slamming his hand on the bronze bell sitting on the counter. When there was no answer, he banged it again, and then again.

"I heard you the first time!" came a man's from the back of the building. After a few moments, a wizard dressed in a disheveled suit stepped through a doorway covered by a pink curtain. "We're closed right now, you'll have to come back tonight— Oh, it's you."

Cyborg grinned, though Willow could not say that it was necessarily _happy_. "Well, it looks we're in the right place, after all. Think you can help us out some? We seem to have a mystery on our hands about just what happened last night."

The wizard paled at the metal man's steely tone. "Look, I was just doing my job. You people came stumbling in and wanted to get married, and when I pointed out that you were all drunk, you went ahead and signed the waiver." Twisting an ornate ring about his right middle finger, he summoned several sheets of paper to his hand and held them out. "See? _'I, the undersigned, hereby absolve the Cathedral of the Chalice of any responsibility for their actions in accordance with my requests. I understand that should I regret my decision at a later date, I cannot hold the Cathedral financially or legally liable.'_ It's all there in black and white."

"And you expect our signatures, made while we were clearly drunk, to hold up in court?" Cyborg pressed.

"It has before."

Lupin stepped forwards. "Ignoring that for a moment, you said we were married here. The other chapels refused to file any annulment papers for us since we weren't married there. Can we get it handled here, or do we have to find yet _another_ place for that?"

"Oh, yes, we can take care of that." The besuited wizard smiled nastily and summoned several more papers and a few pens. "Just fill out the paperwork, I'll take them and the annulment fee, and everything should be settled by close of business today."

"And how much is that fee supposed to be?" Tonks demanded.

"Not much. Two-hundred fifty dollars per annulment." He looked at their records again. "Oh, I forgot. You bunch paid in Pureblood money. Five galleons each, then."

"_Two-hundred fifty_?!" Cyborg reached over and snatched the documents from the man's hand. Flipping through them, he exclaimed, "The original marriage fee was only _one_-hundred!"

"Well, yes, but people who want annulments are generally more desperate than people wanting to get married," the wizard answered with a shrug. At their glares, he added, "Hey, it's just good business!"

Willow cleared her throat to grab his attention. "What about the spell you put on us? Can you remove it, and are you going to charge us more for that, too?" The others nodded in agreement.

At that question, the minister of the chapel winced. "Ah, yes. Well, um, to be honest, I'd love to get rid of that, but unfortunately…"

"_Unfortunately_?" Raven prompted in a menacing growl.

"Look, it doesn't work like that! I can't undo that. It's permanent!"

They all stepped forwards, and the man scurried back. "I'd suggest you start talking," Tonks whispered in a dangerous voice.

"It's an old marriage ritual called the Fidelity Bond; we only offer it because some foreign traditionalists who come in will occasionally ask for it!" At the Auror's impatient gesture, he continued quickly, "What it does – I assume that's what you want to know – is it makes a bond between the couple, and just like the name implies, it forces the two to be faithful to one another. You can't sleep with anyone other than your bonded without that person's explicit permission. When it's new, you can't get very far away from your partner, either, but that goes away after a week!"

"What do you mean, you need someone else's permission?" shrieked Beast Boy. "How does that even work?!"

"Without your spouse's permission, the magic stops you from doing anything. I don't know exactly how it works, though; I've never really asked," the wizard said sheepishly.

"Which of us was stupid enough to even request this?" Willow demanded.

"Uh, that would be _you_." The other five turned their glares on her, and she grimaced. _That_ was certainly not what she had wanted or expected to hear. "You said something about not wanting to be alone anymore. Or was it that you couldn't feel your bones anywhere?" He thought for a moment and shrugged. "You were slurring pretty badly by that point; I'm not entirely sure what it was that you said."

_Why would… Oh, no. I think I know why I said that_. She covered her face with her hands and sighed. After losing her parents when she was little, and just a few weeks ago watching Sirius fall through the Veil, she could understand why the idea of having someone next to her forever would get her attention. Even stone-cold sober, it was an appealing thought, but not if it was like this. Not forced upon her, and definitely not if she had to be bound to a total stranger.

"And just to clarify, there is _no_ way to nullify this bond?" Lupin asked. "No other ritual we could maybe undertake?"

"The only way the bond will break is with the death of the other person," the wizard answered. "It makes the part of your vows that says _'till death do us part'_ quite literal, I'm afraid."

The six individuals looked amongst themselves, and Willow was sure that they were all thinking the same thing. At this point, outright murder was looking more and more like a reasonable solution.

* * *

**This is where my story takes a sharp departure from all the other Vegas Vacation fics I've seen. When people actually get drunk-married in Vegas, I rather doubt they just shrug and go along with it. The six of them will **_**not**_** have a fun time in the immediate future.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	4. Returning Home to a Strange Place

**Faraway-R, Sakura Lisel:** Since Cyborg's father was the one who designed his prosthetics (if I recall my Wikipedia trawl correctly) and I couldn't find any place where it was mentioned exactly what body parts he lost, we're going to assume either that his pelvis wasn't destroyed or that Silas included _details_ that would allow him to have as normal a life as possible.

**The Mad Mad Reviewer:** I _may_ be bashing Beast Boy and Lupin a _little_ right now, but what I'm trying to do overall is set them up so they provide some comic relief. Don't expect them to be the butt of all the jokes. As for the age gap… SPOILER: They won't be staying together, and I don't plan for them to have any further relations. It was a one-time drunken experience that neither is eager to repeat.

**A quick announcement before we start. I started my clinical rotations on August 1, but since it was family practice and therefore 8–5 Monday through Friday, my writing schedule was minimally disrupted. The next few months, however, I'm in the ER, OR, and doing hospital rounds, so depending on when my preceptors want me around and what specifically they have me doing, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to keep posting a chapter of this or **_**Ascendant**_** every Wednesday like clockwork.**

**Disclaimer:** Did none of the Titans' enemies – Slade particularly – ever try getting rid of them by just shooting missiles at the giant glass 'T' sitting out in the middle of the bay? If not, I don't own the Harry Potter or Teen Titans franchises; they belong to J.K. Rowling and DC Entertainment, respectively, as well as Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 4  
****Returning Home to a Strange Place**

Robin slowly raised his head from his hands to look at the people sitting around the table staring back at him. "Let me make sure I have this straight. When we were at the club last night, you six got drunk—"

"I was drugged," Raven interjected.

"Fine, drunk or drugged, and while inebriated you decided to get _married_."

Cyborg grimaced. "Uh, yeah, pretty much."

"You woke up in bed with your new spouses, freaked out, had a little powwow, and then wandered around a magical town in the middle of Las Vegas to look for some answers."

"So far, so good," Tonks replied, taking another bite of her spaghetti. "But we weren't really _wandering_ since Rivera Boulevard is mostly a straight shot. Be kind of hard to get lost."

"And then," he continued, ignoring the female shapeshifter's comment, "you found out that, at Willow's suggestion, you went through a magical bonding ritual to permanently tie yourselves together."

Unlike her countrywoman, the aforementioned girl kept pushing her food around her plate rather than eat any of it, her head down and her cheeks flushed with shame. "Don't remind me."

"Now none of you can get more than ten feet away from the other person."

"That… is the gist of it, yes," admitted Remus.

"And if _that_ weren't enough, the wizard who tied you together then tried to extort you, at which point you assaulted him and only later realized that you hadn't filled out the annulment paperwork."

"Hey, don't blame us!" Beast Boy immediately denied, wagging a finger at their foreign guests. "_They_ were the ones who used their hocus-pocus on him!"

"Oi!"

Ignoring the pink-haired woman's irritation, Raven explained, "In regards to the paperwork, we can always petition the government directly for an annulment. It might be a little more difficult considering we live in California, which is part of magical Oregon rather than New Mexico, but not by much. And the hexes they put on the director of the chapel are all easily removed, anyway."

"Besides," added Cyborg in a sheepish voice, "while we didn't go after him ourselves, we _may_ have_…_ cheered them on a little."

Robin sighed and let his head fall heavily on the wooden table, the plates and glasses rattling from the impact. "This vacation was a _terrible_ idea."

There was silence for a long, uncomfortable moment, then green teen asked, "So… Do you have any ideas what to do about it?"

"Getting drunk got you into this situation; maybe it'd get you _out_, too. _I_ could certainly use one right now," he answered sarcastically. Raising his head, he noticed all of them looking confused and lost, and he felt his sympathy returning somewhat. He was still irritated with the two other guys on the team – if Raven was telling the truth, and it was rare that she did not, she could not be apportioned blame – but his justifiable temper would not help matters. "The only plan I have is the obvious one: file for the annulment, wait for the week to end so you can get away from each other, then we all go our separate ways."

Cyborg, Raven, Tonks, and Remus shared a disappointed glance at that, and the robotic hero explained, "That's all we could think of, too. We were hopin' you'd be able to come up with somethin' else since you weren't involved, but I guess that was too much to ask for."

"Which means we're stuck like this," Raven groaned. "I'd say things couldn't get any worse, but I've already said that twice today, and both times, Fate decided to make my life more difficult just out of spite."

Willow gave the half-demon a strange look, as if she simultaneously wanted to reach out to the woman and get as far away from her as possible at the same time, and Robin shook his head. Even after five years of working together, he still found Raven to be difficult to deal with at times, and that was when she was perfectly calm and at ease. For a stranger dealing with her when she was in a snit, it could undoubtedly be extremely unpleasant. He would have to take a moment when the girl was distracted to send Raven a message on her comm reminding her not to let her razor-sharp tongue cause yet more problems.

They had a little over six days to go before the two groups could split up, and all he wanted was for that time to pass as smoothly as possible.

Screams echoed through the restaurant, and the grey-skinned woman closed her eyes and shook her head. "Dear Azar… I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut."

A black fog rolled into the building, then some of the darkness turned and rose to cover the front windows while the rest drifted along the walls. Four people stood in the doorway, three dogs the size of cars behind them, and after a moment, a man in a leather biker's outfit stepped forward. "This is a robbery," he announced unnecessarily. "Everyone hand over your wallets, purses, and jewelry. Don't try to be a hero; your phones won't work, and if you choose to fight, Hound"—he jerked his thumb at one of the people beside him, a woman wearing jeans and a fur-collared jacket, a cheap mask the only sign that she was in costume—"will sic her dogs on you. Cooperate, and we'll be out of your way in fifteen minutes or less and without having to hurt anyone."

The other woman in the group, dressed in a purple leotard and domino mask, turned her gaze to the Titans and lost her vulpine smile. "It won't work. We've already got heroes here."

"You picked the _wrong_ day to pull this stunt," Robin told them, cracking his knuckles and drawing his staff. The rest of the team stood as well. "Titans, go!" He sprinted forward, Starfire taking flight, but then four yelps and crashes came from behind him. A quick glance back revealed Cyborg and Beast Boy, along with their new spouses, lying on the ground and grabbing their chests.

He cursed silently. He had forgotten about that little wrinkle.

Thankfully Raven had still been on the ball, even if her shadowed eyes had a decidedly red tinge to them. The occupied chairs between him and the criminals were coated in darkness, and both they and the people in them were thrown to the walls. By the time he had taken ten steps, the tables were in the same state and speeding through the air.

The villains had seemed surprised at the sudden counterattack, but they quickly recovered. One of the enormous canines leapt in the way of the tables, keeping them from crashing into the crew, and the other two rushed toward him. Balls of bright green light smashed into the head on the one on the right, but when he pulled his staff back to swing it at the other, a wave of darkness swept over him. He could not see, could not hear, and that caused him to mistime his strike.

What felt like a dozen daggers stabbed into him, and he knew he yelled at the pain even if he could not hear it inside the black cloud. He was jerked back and forth several times before the giant dog let go, and he tumbled through the air. Shadows once again rose up to halt his movement, though this time they were cold as ice, and he relaxed into their grasp. A hole appearing in Raven's powers right in front of his eyes, he was able to watch a well-known blue beam and a much less familiar jet of scarlet light impact the dog that had used him as a chew toy. It crashed through the darkened windows and vanished out of sight.

"Just… get… _on_." A sharp, panicked shout came from outside his vision, and then a green tiger raced past him as he drifted through the air, Remus looking terrified at riding on the back of the five-hundred-pound predator. The dog not occupied by snapping at Starfire lunged at the pair, only to bite a shimmering forcefield when the wizard jabbed a wooden stake in its direction.

The dark soulself set him gently down on the ground and vanished, and the blue-clad heroine placed her glowing hands against the bleeding wounds. "Stay still!" she demanded when he tried to leverage his torso up to follow what was going on at the other end of the room. "I can't heal you while you're moving around."

From the corner of his eye, Robin could see Willow dither for a moment before making a decision. "Budge over."

"What?"

The black-haired girl ignored the sorceress's confused demand and whipped out her own stick – he could only assume it was a magic wand, cliché as it sounded – before holding its now-glowing tip over one of the tooth-marks. "_Episkey_," she whispered, and the wound began closing before his eyes.

Raven looked just as surprised as he felt, but she quickly regained her equilibrium. "Can I trust you to look after him?" Willow muttered an agreement as she worked, not seeming to hear the weight behind the other woman's words; not a surprise, considering the two had known each other for less than twenty-four hours. He nodded at his teammate, letting her know that he considered himself in good hands.

She might only be fifteen, but that was still older than any of the Titans had been when they first placed themselves in Raven's care. Besides, at least she _acted_ like she knew what she was doing.

Raven nodded back and shuffled to kneel next to Cyborg and Tonks while they were slinging spells and sonic blasts from behind the overturned table, and he directed his attention back to the girl who was already working on the second puncture. Willow's particular form of healing was less widespread than Raven's, fixing one at a time rather than all of them at once, but considering her increased speed, it looked to be just as effective. "Where did you learn to do this?" he asked breathlessly, trying to distract the girl from the crashing, yelling, and roaring echoing around them.

His attempt to help was for naught, however, for she simply finished closing that wound and calmly moved on to the next before answering. "This past year at my school, we had a professor whose favorite form of 'punishment' was making us write lines in our own blood." He gaped, not only at that bit of information but also the clinical voice it was delivered in. "I was her preferred victim because I didn't accept the drivel she was spitting out and told her so in class our first day back, and all the detentions she had me doing was causing the words to be imprinted on my hand. _'I must not tell lies'_, they said, and I refused to let them stay there permanently; it felt like it would be letting her win. So I went to the school nurse and had her teach me how to heal them up on my own." Willow smiled slightly. "She taught me a few other things, too, when we realized I had a knack for it."

"And everyone was all right with your teacher doing that?"

"There wasn't much anyone could do. She was appointed by the Ministry to be there and had the Minister's personal backing."

_There's something very wrong when a government __**supports**__ what sounds like wide-spread child abuse_. Choosing another topic, he observed, "You don't seem disturbed by all this."

"The fighting?" she clarified. At his affirmation, she asked, "Has your team ever been outnumbered by magical terrorists two to one and been forced to fight them in a running battle in a place you've never been before just to stay alive?"

He blinked and answered slowly, "No, I can't say we have."

"Sit up. It's not fun," she continued with a wry grimace as she helped him shift to a vertical position so she could reach the wounds on his back. To his appreciation, the pain was still there but much less; clearly trusting the girl was the right decision, after all. "But after that, just listening isn't a big deal."

Robin did not know if it was the addition of a sixth combatant that had made the difference, but the villains who had come to rob the restaurant were losing more and more ground as the battle went on. The lights of the Strip streamed into the building now that the darkness-generator was too busy trying to hinder Starfire and Beast Boy at the same time to keep the windows hidden, and the spandex-clad woman glanced through the giant hole the dog had made with a frown. "Abort."

"What?" the last villain said in confusion as he flicked his hand and caused Beast Boy, now in the shape of a velociraptor, to stumble to one side. Remus yelped, having too hard a time staying on the transformed teento cast a spell at the criminal. "We've got 'em on the ropes."

"The Huntresses are less than a minute away; someone called them when Brutus got thrown outside, though Grim pulling his fog certainly didn't help. If we don't leave now, we'll be pinned down."

"You couldn't mention this any sooner?!" the now-named Grim snapped. "Hound!"

The other woman growled but pulled a dog whistle out of her pocket and signaled her pets. The canines abandoned their fights and loped quickly to the villains, who wasted no time mounting them like giant horses and taking off into the night.

Beast Boy, now a green bear, nudged Remus off and resumed human form. "So… Did we win?"

"The bad guys ran off without gettin' what they wanted. That's a win in my book," Cyborg said, standing and moving around their hasty barricade, Tonks just a step behind him. Looking at the civilians cowering along the walls, he called out, "Hey, is anybody hurt?!"

A chorus of _'No'_s answered him, and he sighed in relief. The only unbroken window chose that moment to shatter as something red flew inside. "Ah, come on!"

"Don't panic, anyone, the Huntresses are here!" came a young woman's voice, her cape swirling as she stood to her full height and pulled a steel scythe from behind her back to slam the tip into the ground. How she could have hidden it considering it was bigger than she was, Robin hadn't a clue. "Are _you_ the ones terrorizing these poor people?"

"What? No! Those guys just left!" Cyborg shouted, pointing his finger at the door.

The new heroine stared at them undeterred. "And how do I know you're telling the truth? If you _were_ the ones who did this, you'd still deny it."

"Ruby!" A white-haired girl in a blue dress, rapier in hand, stuck her head through the doorway. "What are you _doing_?! They're getting away!"

"So these guys aren't…?" Ruby asked weakly, waving her hand at the Titans plus three.

"No!"

"_Oooh_." The girl looked back at them, her sheepish expression and frilly black dress making her look much younger. "Sorry."

Willow stepped back and gave Robin a thumbs up. Standing and making his way forward, he replied, "It's not a problem; just keep it in mind in the future so you don't make the same mistake twice."

"Y-You're Robin?" she squeaked, her eyes wide. Her silver gaze never leaving him, she started feeling around in the pouches around her waist. "Can I have your autograph?"

"_Ruby_!"

"Coming!" the heroine called back. She mouthed _'Later'_ at the former Bat disciple, leapt on her weapon as if it were a witch's broom, and was suddenly gone in a blur, only a few drifting rose petals indicating that she had been there at all.

"Ooo-kay, that wasn't weird at all." Cyborg raised his hand stiffly. "All in favor of getting out of here before anything else crazy happens?"

Seven other arms joined his. "Aye!"

The group broke up, and a few seconds later most of them yelped as they were yanked back together. Robin and Starfire looked down at them in concern, and meeting their gaze, Tonks remarked dryly, "This is really getting quite tiresome."

_This bond of theirs is making everything more complicated. How are we going to handle this? It's not like we can just take them back with… us…_ He quirked an eye behind his mask as he looked over them again. _Then again, they aren't normal civilians. Tonks can shoot from a distance, just like Cyborg, and while Beast Boy is a close quarters fighter, Remus was able to hang on and defend him. With rare exceptions, changing forms doesn't make him any less squishy, so that could only help. Even Willow has some fighting experience, and it's not like Raven ever gets up close and personal._

"Hey, guys," he said, gaining their attention. "How would you three feel about staying at our place for the week?"

* * *

Raven tapped her fingers against her thigh, the closest she would get to actual fidgeting while out in public. "Is it supposed to take this long?"

"If you don't like how fast I'm workin', you can always come up here and do it yourself," Cyborg retorted from inside the front cockpit of the T-Jet. "All you have to do is dial in the coordinates of the Tower, program a flight path from here to there, automate the takeoff procedure so all 120 tasks on the checklist occur at the right time and in the right order, then set up the _landin'_ procedures – keepin' in mind that you won't be guidin' it to the tarmac but directin' it to its designated space in an underground hangar – which are just as involved as takeoff. You want to handle that yourself, be my guest."

"_Please_ swap places with him," Tonks added from where she lay in the jet's shadow directly under the mechanical hero. "This asphalt is murder on my back."

"You're on top of a conjured mattress," she reminded the elder witch in a disbelieving tone.

"Meh, details."

"Tonks is like a small child," Willow commented idly, though a faint grin was present. "Just let her wear herself out when she throws a tantrum from not getting what she wants, and eventually she'll grow bored and move on to the next shiny thing that gets her attention."

"Ooo, _someone_ sounds cocky," the metamorph replied. "Maybe I should send a letter to the Ministry about you violating the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery."

The green-eyed girl laughed. "I seem to recall being told – and by an _Auror_, no less – before we came here that the ACMS never ratified that resolution, so any magic I do is perfectly legal."

"That's assuming they even know you were casting magic in the first place," Remus added from where and Beast Boy were sitting, the two still at the very limit of the bond's range. "Once outside your home country's borders, the Trace on your wand becomes _notoriously_ unreliable. It's one reason among many that old Houses, even extremely nationalistic ones, maintain summer homes in other countries; so their children can practice. It's a lot cheaper than hiring tutors to do the same thing legally."

"Lucky me." Willow rolled her wand in her hand, lazy red and gold sparks spurting from the tip. "It almost makes up for everything else that's happened. Almost."

Raven grimaced slightly at that and turned her gaze elsewhere. Robin had called her the previous night after they had all separated from the fight in the restaurant to 'helpfully' remind her that as she would have to be in very close proximity to the girl for the near future, it would be best if she were not as cold and impatient – _'prickly'_ had been his more diplomatic choice of words – as was her wont toward strangers.

She was just glad she had put up some privacy spells before her unofficial dressing-down.

"Willow?" The girl looked at her, and with not a little suspicion. It seemed that, irritatingly enough, Robin had been right once again. "May I speak with you privately?"

"I… guess so. What about?" Rather than answer, she stood, Willow doing the same a moment later, and they walked in the direction of the airport.

After they had gone fifty feet or so, she murmured, "_Neniu audas nin_." The nearby sounds grew dull and flat, and soon they were surrounded by only a stifled silence. "I wish to… No, I _need_ to apologize to you," she corrected herself. "I have not been the most agreeable companion of late thanks to this… _situation_. That is no reason for me to take all my frustrations out on you, however. Other than drinking excessively, you bear little blame for our… marriage problem."

"It's fine," the younger witch muttered, hugging her middle as if to ward off Raven's words. "You don't have to apologize."

"On the contrary, I most certainly do." Willow still did not look convinced, the mustard taste of confusion filling Raven's mouth, so she added, "For my own peace of mind, even if you do not feel the need to hear them."

That seemed to give the comfort the girl, and the accepting nod she gave Raven filled the half-demon with concern. For someone to _anticipate_ everyone having ulterior or selfish motives for their actions was rarely a good sign. She should know; she did the same thing, and her history was anything but pleasant. "I understand. Er…" She beckoned for the girl to voice whatever it was she was hesitant to say. "It's none of my business, but… why are you taking this particularly hard? You said something about bad memories earlier, I think?"

_Of course she would ask something complicated_. Raven stood quietly for a moment, sorting out how phrase her answer without adding undue burdens to the girl. There was no need to explain the details of her infernal heritage, a secret she had kept from her own teammates for over three years, to someone she would almost certainly never see again after this upcoming week. "Have you ever been in a situation with no options, where you were restricted by circumstances you could never hope to control?"

Strangely, Willow looked at her with comprehending eyes and metallic-tasting concern and nodded slowly.

Raven swallowed uncomfortably at that empathetic expression but continued her – heavily redacted – story. "I was in one for… most of my life, really, and only recently has everything resolved, though not without far more pain and anguish than anyone should need to bear. Then there was the Brotherhood business—"

"The what?"

"A group of villains intent on taking over the world," she answered offhandedly, Willow's face slackening in surprise. "Our trip here was supposed to be a chance to recover from that, and now _this_…" Raven shook her hand. "I just want some time when I'm _not_ chained by something."

"I think I understand," the girl replied hesitantly, though the elder sorceress's sixth sense made it clear that it was not because Willow was fearful or disbelieving. It was more like she was carefully sorting her thoughts out to find the right words to say. "Other people are always pushing me to do things I don't really want to do and telling me it's my duty to do them. It's definitely a burden."

"That it is," she agreed. It always came back to duty. It had been her duty to be emotionless so Trigon would not be manifested. It had been her duty to leave Azarath so the city would not be ravaged by His armies. It had been her duty to fight crime and promote peace and justice so she might make up in some small manner for the devastation she was predestined to cause.

_Duty_ was a loathsome curse to her ears.

Her apology now given and, surprisingly, some common ground found with the girl she would be sharing her personal space with for the coming week, she broke the spell surrounding them. Turning to her teammates, who had approached while they were in the midst of their conversation, she asked, "Are we ready to leave now?"

"Yep. Suitcases are in the hold, and the Jet's runnin' through its checklist. Should take off in a couple of minutes," Cyborg answered. "You sure you can carry all of us all the way back to Jump? You've never flown this many people that far before."

She smirked wickedly. "Only because you never allowed me to do so. Hold on." The darkness inherent in her soul spilled out of her physical body, her astral self engulfing the seven. Casting her mind out, she found the location that sang to her of peace and safety and _freedom_, readily identifying it without needing to envision it.

"But there's nothin'—"

The world shattered.

After a period of time that felt like it could have spanned milliseconds or millennia, but was probably only a handful of moments, she recalled her soulself to reveal the shimmering waters of the Jump City Bay. "—to hold on _to_!" Cyborg finished, immediately wrapping his metal-plated arms around himself as his mind caught up to his senses. "_Dammit_, that's cold! Do we need to buy you a space heater to stick in that stuff? And you wonder why we don't ask you to teleport us everywhere."

"_That_ was fun," Tonks muttered sarcastically, her teeth chattering. All three foreigners were in the same boat; they had not spent five years growing accustomed to the chill of her powers as the Titans had done. "Now let's never do it again."

"Tonks, you shouldn't have to deal with it that much. Willow, you have my sympathies." Robin walked toward the Tower's door and placed his hand flat on the panel next to it. After a moment, it glowed green, and the door slid open with a quiet _whoosh_. "Welcome to Titans' Tower."

They stepped through the doorway and into the elevator just a few feet ahead of them. Looking through the windows as they quickly ascended to the top floor where the team actually lived, Tonks remarked, "This place is certainly open. How do you keep people from just attacking you directly?"

"Biometric identification, routine password changes, and hacking countermeasures just to start," Cyborg pronounced proudly.

Seeing their magical guests staring stupidly at him and reminding herself that Purebloods knew nothing about science – though the women had revealed during the quest for the chapel that they were actually Mixedbloods, the way they described magical Britain made it sound like everyone there was forced to live in a Pure society – Raven interjected, "Those are all technological defenses to keep people physically out of the Tower or to prevent them from stealing our classified information from a remote location. I erected anti-scrying and -bombardment wards, and after… a few events"—namely the H.I.V.E. members breaking in and Terra leading Slade's androids inside—"I added another so no living thing with ill intent can set foot on the island." Although those defenses had proven to be less than entirely effective against demons or the resurrected servants of Demon Lords.

"Wait, there are wards here?" Willow asked in surprise. "But you use electricity, don't you? How does that work?"

Raven looked at her blankly. "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're asking."

"Muggle devices can't function around magic," Remus stated, Tonks nodding in agreement. "That's why we're curious how all this could possibly be running."

"Wherever did you get _that_ idea? Electromagnetism and magic are both fundamental forces of the universe. Electricity doesn't cause _gravity_ to stop working, does it, at least not on scales larger than the quantum level." She shook her head, the other Titans watching in fascination. "All non-Purebloods I know personally use electricity in their normal lives, and I have yet to hear of any of them having problems."

The door dinged just before it opened, and after a moment a woman's voice called out, "Whoa, who's the fresh meat?"

* * *

**I always thought it strange how Hermione said in book 4 that electronics don't work inside Hogwarts, but in that same book Harry wore one of Dudley's old wristwatches that kept time just fine until he jumped into the Black Lake with it still on. As I highly doubt Dudley would have asked for or Vernon/Petunia would have given him a mechanical watch, the simplest solution I can come up with (that doesn't require intentional misinformation in **_**Hogwarts: A History**_**) is that **_**corded**_** electronics don't work there because the castle simply isn't wired for electricity, so appliances don't have anywhere to be plugged into. Considering the average wizard's knowledge of Muggle technology, I expect such a mistake would be easy for them to make.**

**Not one, but **_**two**_** references this chapter. The group that tried to rob the restaurant is based on the Undersiders from Wildbow's web-serial **_**Worm**_**, possibly the best superhuman story I've ever encountered. I most definitely recommend everyone read it, though I warn you now that you won't be able to finish it in one sitting (or ten, for that matter). The Huntresses are Team Ruby from **_**RWBY**_**, an anime-style show produced by Rooster Teeth that I've come to love. It's short, only four hours long or so right now, but trust me, it's time well spent.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	5. Moving In

**Preier, The Mad Mad Reviewer:** Yeah, I intentionally left Skitter out of the fight scene; if I hadn't, I would have had a hard time deciding who to root for.

**WhiteElfElder:** We don't actually know that much about Raven's magic, at least not from the cartoon, so in this story it's exactly the same energy and has the same applications as in the HP-verse, just actualized differently.

**I can't believe I'm saying this, especially since we're only to chapter 5, but… fluff alert!**

**Disclaimer:** Did Fudge admit that the Ministry of Magic had manipulated the memories of a foreign diplomat in book 6, yet no one batted an eye? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter or Teen Titans franchises; they belong to J.K. Rowling and DC Entertainment, respectively, as well as Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 5  
****Moving In**

_Fresh… meat?_ Willow looked the pink-haired stranger over and turned to Robin. "Please tell me she meant that idiomatically and she's not really a cannibal."

"A cannibal?" he repeated in confusion. "Jinx? No, or at least not that I know of. She can be a major pain in the ass, but she doesn't eat people. Why would you even have to ask?"

"There _are_ magical species that feed on humans," Tonks answered blithely. "Vampires, succubi and incubi, harpies, some of the fae…"

The younger witch continued loudly to drown out her distant cousin, "That, and I've had a very strange week, even by _my_ standards." Getting drunk, getting married while drunk, hexing a stranger alongside a werewolf and an Auror, fighting a gang of criminals, Apparating through an arctic darkness… "At this point, I'd believe you completely even you if you said you had a terrible monster disguised as a human running around as your butler."

She missed Raven's tiny flinch.

"That would be really, really awesome," the aforementioned Jinx commented, almost skipping over to scrutinize her shamelessly with unusual eyes bearing slit pupils. "Still, you never answered my question. What's a couple Limeys doing all the way out here in Cali?"

"We, uh… well…" Cyborg looked to the rest of the 'couples' for help.

Before they could come up with a believable explanation, Starfire hopped over them and spun the feline heroine in a circle. "Oh, it is most glorious, if… unexpected. Friends Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg drank too much of the alcohol and found these three inside the club of dancing we were visiting. They then decided to be married!"

"Whoa, whoa, back up!" Jinx spluttered. "Stone, you got drunk-hitched? Wait, _Raven_ got drunk?!"

"I. Was. Drugged," the cloaked witch ground out.

"Wow, even more hardcore," was the other woman's reply as she – probably intentionally – ignored the point. At least Willow hoped it was intentional. She shot Lupin a critical glance. "So you go for the sugar daddy type, huh? Still, I think you coulda done better. No offense, man."

Lupin shrugged. "Some taken."

Willow, Raven, Tonks, and Beast Boy shared a look. They could use this misunderstanding to their advantage. Leave Tonks married to Cyborg, and she could be the green—

"Oh, no. Friend Remus is Friend _Beast Boy's_ new spouse."

_So much for __**that**__ plan_, the youngest in the group thought with a sigh.

"Really?!" the American pinkette said with a cackle. "So who's the schoolgirl with? Stone, were you robbing the cradle?"

"Nope, I picked someone a little closer to my age." Cyborg flicked his only visible eye meaningfully at the Auror.

Jinx's eyes grew wide as she looked between Willow and Raven. "Hold on. So that means…" She clapped her hands over her mouth, her shoulders shaking as she tried to hold her laughter in.

Robin sighed. "Just say it."

"Not a chance," the heroine said after a moment to get herself back under control, albeit barely. "Raven will legitimately and literally _murder_ me. I'll text it to you later."

"Slowpoke, who're you talking to? Are the Titans back already?" drifted a man's voice from farther inside the massive building.

"Dammit, Flash, I told you not to call me that!" she screamed back. "And yeah, they're back, and they even brought _friends_."

The group moved toward the unseen individual, and Willow held back as long as she could to gain Jinx's attention. Looking hard at the pink-eyed woman, she shot a glance at Raven's back and tilted her head questioningly.

Jinx leaned closer to whisper in her ear, "I used to be a villain and fought with them a bunch of times. I was gonna say if I had known Raven could be taken down by a pair of tits, I would've flashed her years ago." She had to smile at that, and the feline crime-fighter pulled away with a grin on her own face as well.

Returning her attention to the rest of the party, she noticed that they had greeted whom she could only assume was the individual Jinx had been talking to. Dressed in a garish red and yellow jumpsuit, which was completely at odds with his… girlfriend's? – She looked again at the woman, noting the same soft look her own ex had given her throughout the last term of the year – yes, his girlfriend's much more normal dress and leggings. "Who's he?" she asked quietly.

"Kid Flash. Fastest teenager in the world." The feline heroine smiled proudly. "Give him a couple more years, and he'll be faster than the Flash himself. I'm sure of it."

Willow nodded as if she knew whom those names referred to; not only had the Dursleys not allowed talk of superheroes in their house, the few conversations on the subject she had overheard when she was still in primary school had revolved around the British heroes. Needless to say, this _'Flash'_ character was not one of them.

She had only a split-second to realize that their conversation had caused them to fall too far behind the rest of the Titans. Mentally sighing, she did not bother fighting the sharp tug that sent her and Raven to the floor and dragged them back into physical contact.

Jinx looked at the pair for a moment before shrugging. "You two _really_ like each other, doncha?"

"It's not that," Cyborg denied with a sigh. Beside him, Tonks quickly shook her head, which he ignored as he explained, "While we were three sheets to the wind, I guess we thought it would be a good idea to get some kind of mystical bond-thing put on us, and now we're stuck like this."

"Mystical bond?" Jinx repeated, looking at Raven as she and Willow regained their feet.

"Pureblood marriage spell."

"Ah. Wait," the pink-haired woman interjected, "how did you three even bag some Pures? And why aren't they catatonic from finding out they aren't the center of the universe?"

"So you _are_ a near-human. I had wondered about that," Tonks commented with not a little relief.

Jinx's pink eyes flashed, and bubblegum sparks crackled around her fingers. "_What_ did you just call me?"

"They don't know any better," Raven said, her tone totally apathetic. Perhaps, Willow thought, the so-called heroine was going to go against the group's agreement and off her anyway, even if indirectly. "They're English."

"So?"

"_So_ I don't think they have ever seen a metahuman before yesterday. They were certainly surprised when they found out Beast Boy was non-magical." Thinking for a moment, the cloak-and-leotard-clad woman continued, "Not to mention, from what I've gathered _all_ English mages have to live like Purebloods, even if they aren't."

"Have to?" Jinx, Willow, Tonks, and Lupin repeated, the latter three in confusion and the former in astonishment.

Raven nodded. "Oh yes, they don't have a choice in it."

"_Damn_. I'm surprised the Firsties and Mixers over there haven't revolted already."

…_Firsties? Mixers?_ Willow looked over at her temporary wife, who clarified, "Firstbloods and Mixedbloods, people with completely or partially nonmagical heritage, respectively."

"Our society isn't that bad," Tonks denied heatedly.

"Not that bad? _Not that bad?!_ No TV, no takeout, no internet porn?" Jinx shook her head in disbelief. "Girl, living over here for a while's clearly gonna do you a world of good. _Not that bad_. Make me live like one of those backward, inbred idiots, and you'd be doing me a _favor_ by putting a bullet in my skull."

Before Tonks or the equally enraged Lupin – who _was_ a Pureblood, if Willow remembered correctly – could continue the argument, she quickly asked, "So how _do_ Muggleborn— I mean Firstbloods, live if not like Purebloods?"

"There is a substantial proportion of non-Purebloods who _do_ stay in that society," The grey-skinned heroine explained. "Some like the simpler life; some of the Mixedbloods who are only a generation from Pureblood status want their children to have the opportunities they themselves did not; others have skills the Purebloods find valuable and can therefore have better lives then they could otherwise; and some, particularly those in New England where restrictions are the least stringent, feel they are considered equal enough to ignore the more bigoted individuals."

Jinx interrupted, "And for everyone with half a brain, there's no law saying we _have_ to stick around, so we don't. We got our own schools, our own lawyers for when the Pures start looking for trouble, our own cops—"

"Who ya caused just as much trouble as you did us, I bet," Cyborg laughed.

"The shortest explanation is that for those who see magic as a useful aspect of their lives but not a _vital_ one, residing and working in the mundane world with only occasional forays into magical society for things like potion ingredients is oftentimes the best course of action." Holding her hand out toward her fellow American witch, Raven continued, "Some, such as Jinx, are more… _revolutionary_, shall we say, while others are like myself and have more important things to worry about than how people we don't know choose to live their lives."

"Well, _someone_ has to take a stand. It's not like the norms ever will."

"Unless your education was completely worthless, you should know it is not that the mundane government _won't_ intervene so much as they _can't_," Raven returned.

The nonmagical Titans glanced at each other in surprise, and Robin asked, "Why do you say the federal government can't get involved? If there is discrimination based essentially on race—"

"Because to my knowledge, the ACMS is a completely different country, just like how magical and Muggle Britain are separate," Tonks cut in.

"Correct," Raven answered with a nod. "To further complicate matters, the magical population was fighting a civil war while the Union and Confederacy were also at each other's throats, and in fact all four sides engaged in battle in the town of Franklin, Tennessee, at the same time, revealing the existence of magic to the mundanes present. When both wars ended, the two governments met and, neither wanting to take part in _another_ war, signed a treaty known as the Lamont Accord that formally acknowledged the two nations as independent sovereign entities and established a mutual position of non-aggression and non-interference."

"But wouldn't you still be U.S. citizens?" questioned Kid Flash.

"Firstbloods and Mixedbloods have dual citizenship," the purple-haired witch agreed, "even if a good number who choose to stay part of magical society ultimately revoke their affiliation with the mundane as it is a requirement to work in or with the public sector. Part-humans like myself do _not_ have magical citizenship, or to be more precise, not one that does us any good. Purebloods, on the other hand, are solely members of the magical world unless they are born in a regular hospital or choose to become naturalized citizens later in life."

"Dude, this whole thing is messed-up and complicated," Beast Boy whined as he grabbed the sides of his head.

Raven simply nodded. "Yes, it is indeed. That is one of the reasons I stay on this side of the divide."

At that moment, the lights in the large living room all began flashing red, and a horn blared repeatedly. Robin sprinted to what she could only presume was a computer imbedded in the wall directly below the windows that showed the bay. The panel of glass in the middle inexplicably darkened before showing a map with a single glowing red dot. "It's Control Freak," the masked man told the room at large; the other Titans nodded in understanding, but Willow was strangely glad that Jinx and Kid Flash looked just as confused as she, Tonks, and Lupin felt.

Cyborg began walking to another door, the metamorph quickly following him. "I'll get the T-Car runnin'—"

"No, you won't." The metallic hero looked back at Robin. "Last night was a special case, but I'm not going to feel comfortable sending you six out until I know that you can work together effectively. Kid Flash, Jinx, I know you're probably waiting to head back home already, but…"

"Sure, no problem," the inhumanly fast individual agreed, his girlfriend nodding her assent as well.

"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Beast Boy demanded.

"Give our guests a tour? Show them our training exercises?" Robin shrugged his shoulders. "I really don't care, but I'm sure you can find _something_ to entertain yourselves with while we're gone." He, followed by the two house-sitters, chased after Starfire through the automated door at the back of the room and deeper into the building.

The group of six looked at each other, lost on what to do next. "_Sooo_," the green boy asked, turning to Lupin. "You have a favorite game on the GameStation?"

"The what now?"

"Oh, geez." He slapped his face with his hand. "Maybe I'll just hibernate for a week."

* * *

Cyborg had to smother a smile even as he slowed down so he would not get too far ahead of Tonks's limping gait. "I told you you didn't want to take on that last setting."

"And I told you I could keep up, and I bloody well did," she snapped back, leaning against the wall for a moment so she could rub out the knots forming in her quads and hamstrings.

"Yep, you did at that." He had to give credit where credit was due; the magical cop had performed much better than he had expected. With Robin and Starfire gone and the rest of them essentially on mandatory leave, he had quickly needed something to do to keep from getting too bored. Normally he would have played games with Beast Boy or watched a movie online, but their fearless leader had made a good point, even if it was almost certainly unintentional.

If they were going to be stuck with their 'spouses' for another six days and counting, their best course of action was to at least _try_ to get along. It would keep them from killing each other if nothing else. So, rather than go off and do his own thing, he had been a gentleman and done his best to include her.

Thankfully, Tonks was the same active type of person that he was, and her also having a job that demanded she be physically fit helped more than a little, as well.

_Gotta admit, it was nice havin' a partner in the gym. She might not be able to lift as much as Star and would be pretty useless as a spotter if somethin' were to happen to me, but just havin' someone to talk to while workin' out made it a whole lot more fun than usual. And then there were her __**own**__ workouts_… He carefully turned his head to the side, slow enough that she would not notice anything out of the ordinary but fast enough that she could not spot the blush staining his cheeks. Seeing her in her little half shirt and short shorts had affected him more than he cared to admit, and while before today he never would have thought himself an abs man, discreetly watching her while she did her crunches raised some doubts about that.

It was not all about the eye-candy, however. After their shared workout she had expressed an interest in seeing the training exercises Robin had mentioned, and when he showed her the programable obstacle course, she had insisted on having a go at it. Which was the reason for her current state, he reminded himself as he glanced again at her. She might not have any powers beyond her particular brand of shapeshifting and the jets of light she could shoot out of her stick – which, while impressive in the variety of effects they had, still weren't flight or super strength – but that had not stopped her from attempting to run Robin's routines under the mistaken assumption that him being the sole baseline human on the team meant they would be within her abilities.

They weren't. She hadn't managed to clear stage ten, but that was by no means disappointing. Robin had been a professional crime-fighter for going on a decade now, the longest run of all the Titans, and his exercise regimen reflected that. That she was able to compete at a fraction of what he was capable of considering she had been in law enforcement for only a couple of years was beyond impressive.

And when the former disciple of Batman returned to the Tower and watched her attempting his program, he had said that exact same thing.

Seeing Tonks stumble and catch herself against the wall again, Cyborg sighed. "Here, let me help."

"What are you— Hey!" the Brit yelled when he scooped her up bridal-style and carried her down the hall. "I can walk just fine."

_If you could walk, I wouldn't have to carry you_. Rather than say that and spark a fight that would ruin the otherwise enjoyable day they had shared, he instead agreed, "Yeah, but what your legs need right now is to be stretched out properly, and walkin' won't give them that. Just relax, we're almost there anyway."

"Almost where?" He turned to one of the many unlabeled doors in the hall and pressed the button beside it, making the room beyond available for her inspection. "Kind of bland, isn't it?"

"You expected more from a guest room?" he asked dryly, causing her cheeks and hair to take on the same red color. They did not often have guests over, the only time in recent memory being when they housed some of the Honorary Titans overnight after the final battle with the Brotherhood, and that was something Robin of all people had suggested. The rooms _were_ bland, all beige walls and furnished with only a single bed and a nightstand, but since they were almost never used, there was no reason to make them elaborate affairs.

Plopping the shapeshifter on the foot of the bed, he began pulling her legs into the stretches he still remembered from those halcyon days when he was on the junior varsity football team, back when his body was pure flesh and blood, not sixty percent servos and circuits. Back when he could say that he was _human_ without fearing that he was a liar. Tonks groaned as he fought the cramped muscles, and without thinking he gave the thigh he was working on a quick reassuring pat. His sole organic eye grew wide as he realized just how high up her leg his hand had fallen, and her involuntary squeak told him that yes, she had noticed it, too.

He averted his gaze and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, the room, yeah. I know it's not much, but I figured you, Remus, and Willow could use these while you're here. The T-Jet arrived about an hour ago while you were gettin' your butt kicked on stage eight, so I figured we could move your stuff in later this afternoon—"

"Hey, Cyborg? I don't think that'll work." He shot her a curious glance, and she grimaced weakly. "Remember last night, when we had to stay together because of our little leash? I don't think being in a new city will change that."

"Oh, great." Shaking his head, he immediately spotted another major problem with their situation. Being more machine than man, his personal quarters did not have a _bed_, per se, just a vertical frame he 'slept' in while his systems were shut down during his recharge cycle. _I topped off my power cell on Friday, but the portable charger isn't all that good; three days is pushing it._ He checked his power level quickly, and sure enough, he was all the way down to twelve percent. Never knowing when he would be called into combat, he did not like being at less than twenty-five at any time.

At the same time, drawing attention to just how different he was to everyone else on the planet was something he still found very uncomfortable.

"Well, that makes things more complicated," he finally muttered to himself. Thinking about the logistics some more, he sighed and turned his eyes to her. There was nothing he could really do about it. "That mattress you conjured earlier today. How long will it last?"

* * *

_This sucks_, Beast Boy thought as he rolled around on the top bunk of his bed. The entire week had been a lot less enjoyable than he had expected. To start with, the girls in Vegas weren't as accepting of people with green skin as those here in Jump, and he wound up getting shot down every time he tried to get their attention. The one day he finally thought he was going to get lucky, he did, just with another, much older man instead of a hot chick. _Ick_. And not only was he now _married_ to said old guy, the man was from some culture five hundred years behind the rest of the world or something, so he didn't know what GameStation or _Star Destroyer V: Wrath of Number 4_ or even _televisions_ were. Then, just when he thought things would maybe get back to normal now that they were back home, his best friend had walked off to show his own cute girlfriend/temporary wife the gym and Raven had dragged the not-too-bad-looking teenager away to read dark poetry together or drink tea or whatever else the half-demon did when she refused to hang out.

Yes, the whole week had been bad, and that was before Cyborg had told him that he was going to have to share his _room_ with the old fart.

He rolled over again, and Remus sighed from the bunk below him. "I really don't mean to bother, but could you _please_ be still so we can both get to sleep?"

"Sorry it's such a bother that you have to borrow _my bed_," he shot back quietly.

Remus had managed to hear him, however, and the man huffed in annoyance. How someone intruding on _his_ space could have the nerve to be annoyed at him being annoyed, he would never understand. "Beast Boy, do you want me around?"

"Dude, I'd be perfectly happy to have never known you were alive," he answered honestly. "It'd mean I wasn't married to some old guy who doesn't even know what a remote is who wants to talk about _feelings_ and crap in the middle of the night."

"So, no." Before he could remark on just how dumb a statement that was, the British guy asked, "And do you think _I_ want to be around any more than _you_ want me around?"

Opening his mouth, Beast Boy found himself at a loss for words. He hadn't looked at it that way before.

Unable to see his expression, Remus continued, "I don't. I really, really don't. I probably want me gone from here even more than you do. I'd love nothing more than to be back in my home in Britain, not trying to fall asleep in a messy room in the States. In a way, we're both in the same boat, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he admitted.

"Maybe it's just me, but that seems like it would be a good reason to just leave each other be," the man said with another sigh. "I stay out of your way as much as possible, all things considered, you stay out of mine, and in several days we never have to see each other again. Sound good to you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it sounds good." A bit happier now that that had been straightened out, he settled back on his bunk. "Hey, what about Cy and Tonks and Raven and Willow? They're trying to do the whole 'get to know you' thing. Think we should get them to stop?"

"No reason to. Let them handle this their way, and we'll handle it ours."

"Okay, sure." Closing his eyes, he tried to relax. The old guy was right; just a few more days, and everything would go back to normal.

* * *

"This just keeps getting more awkward, doesn't it?" Raven sighed as the door to her room slid open. She did not like her own team, her friends of five years, to enter her domain, and now she had to share it with a total stranger. _'Awkward'_ was one word for it, but in the privacy of her own mind, she was thinking more along the lines of _'intrusive'_ and _'violating'_.

Behind her, Willow stepped inside and crossed her arms uncomfortably. "I already said I'm sorry for ever suggesting the bond thing."

"I realize that, and I even believe you. It simply does not change the facts of the situation." Willow turned her head away and took a few steps to the side, and Raven sighed. Why did _she_ have to be the one who ended up married to the teenage girl with, considering her observed behavior, either a persecution complex or severe self-esteem issues? Cyborg was much better equipped to handle such an individual. Even Beast Boy would have an easier time of it, partly because he would probably make a poor attempt at a joke and promptly forget about the problem.

Unfortunately, Fate – perhaps put out that she had circumvented the prophecy that had ruled her life – had decided to settle _her_ with the teen.

_Why do I even care? It isn't like we will ever interact after this week is over_. Reaching the edge of her bed and thankful that it was wide enough to allow the two rather petite females to share it with minimum disruption, she turned away from her partner to pull off her boots and remove her cloak and belt, all the disrobing she needed to prepare for bed. Willow muttered something, and curious about what had been done, Raven looked behind her to find the girl kicking off her shorts, her t-shirt having been transfigured into a long, scarlet sports jersey, _'Potter 7'_ stitched in golden thread on her back. The black-haired girl slipped under the covers, never looking anywhere but the wall in front of her.

Frowning, Raven joined her in the bed and stared at her own wall. Already she could see a looming problem; with the spicy taste of Willow's sorrow, mingled with honeyed fear and salty anger, dancing on her tongue, there was little chance she would be able to get to sleep until the other girl did and her emotions fell away. The heroine cast her mind about for a solution, and with a mental grimace she realized what she had to do.

"You _do_ realize that I don't blame you for that, don't you?" she asked bluntly, knowing the other girl would understand what she was referring to.

A rustle from behind her, and confusion coated her mouth with mustard. "You don't?"

She rolled over to look at Willow's wide green eyes. "No, I don't. You made a poor decision while you were intoxicated, causing you to act on impulses that you ordinarily would not have. If I wished to blame you for that, I would have to blame myself equally for agreeing to your suggestion."

"But I was the one who chose to get drunk," the young woman protested.

"True, you did, but did you have any intention of this before imbibing?" Willow shook her head. "Then it would be patently unfair for me to consider this anything but an uncomfortable accident. I very much doubt that the others blame you, either."

"I knew _they_ don't," was the whispered retort. Raven quirked an eyebrow in response, and the younger teen explained, "They've all been perfectly friendly to me, so I knew they weren't holding any grudges. You, though… Ever since we woke up yesterday morning, you've been…"

"Cold." Looking away, Willow slowly nodded. The half-demon sighed loudly. "That has nothing to do with you. If you ask the rest of the Titans, they will tell you that I have never exactly been _demonstrative_ regarding my emotions." Weighing the risks and benefits of revealing more detail about herself, she finally continued, "You saw my powers, both last night and this morning, but what you don't know is that they are naturally incredibly destructive. Practiced stoicism keeps them under better control."

"Oh. I… I'm sorry for accusing you. It wasn't my place," the girl whispered.

She shook her head and plunged into a discussion she would rather not have, necessary though it was. "There is no need to apologize. I must admit to being somewhat concerned that you are so eager to bear all the blame for this situation."

"Habit, I guess."

_Habit?_ Frowning slightly, she motioned for the girl to elaborate.

"Back home, I'm… It seems silly to say this to you now, but I'm considered something of a hero. A Dark Lord – Voldemort, have you heard of him?" Raven shook her head. "Well, he terrorized Britain back in the seventies, and a Seer made a prophecy that a girl born at the end of July – me – would have the power to defeat him."

_A prophecy. Of __**course**__ there would be a prophecy involved._

"On Halloween of '81, he attacked my parents' home. He killed my dad and mum, and then he tried to kill me…" Willow sighed. "No one knows why or how it happened, but when he used the Killing Curse on me, I didn't die. He did. I was deemed the Girl-Who-Lived, and suddenly everyone knew my name."

"That must have made your life difficult growing up."

"I actually didn't know about it until I was eleven; I grew up with my aunt and uncle. They don't like magic. They're _afraid_ of it." Squeezing her eyes closed for a moment, Raven pushed her own resentment back down to a simmer. She knew _all_ about the problems that could arise when one's supposed guardians were afraid of her. The longer Willow talked, the more disturbing the parallels she found between the two of them. "When I reentered magical society, I found out who I was, but everyone already had all these _expectations_ that I had to meet. I couldn't just be me; I had to be the hero everyone said I was."

"And you couldn't live up to that standard," she murmured knowingly.

Willow laughed mirthlessly. "I _tried_ to; oh Merlin, did I ever try. If I did something badly, it was as if I had betrayed everyone. If did something _well_, even stuff like Quidditch that has nothing to do with my 'legend', it was no big deal because I was a _hero_, of course I'd be good at it." She shook her head, her black hair falling to hide her face. "But that wasn't the worst part. If something bad happened, even if it had nothing to do with me, it was always my fault. Either I should have stopped it before it happened or, if they were especially angry, I was the culprit. Only Ron and Hermione stood beside me, and sometimes," she snuffled softly, "sometimes not even then. It was always my responsibility to stand up for everyone, but when I did…"

"You were always alone." A few books fell from her shelves as her heart unexpectedly went out to the girl beside her. She understood; dear Azar, she understood perfectly. How long had she been a scapegoat on Azarath? How long had she opposed Trigon's influence and her own infernal nature for no other reason that because it was what she was _supposed_ to do? The only significant difference she could see between their stories was that when she took that final stand against her father, her team had been at her sides, giving her the support she desperately needed even if they could not defeat Him themselves.

From what she was hearing, Willow had not had even that.

Raven had never been a very tactile person, a product of her isolation growing up, but she forced herself to slide closer and pull Willow into a loose embrace. The younger witch immediately latched onto her, and she ran her fingers gently through the dark tresses as she supported shivering shoulders. "You don't have to worry about any of that while you're here. We – _I_ – have no expectations of you."

The shoulder of her leotard grew wet at that, and Raven just held on as the girl cried quietly. After about twenty minutes, Willow finally grew still and drifted off.

Her arms never leaving the younger woman, it took Raven substantially longer to fall asleep.

* * *

**I had forgotten just how much fun Jinx is to write. Originally I hadn't planned to include her at all other than the mention that she and Kid Flash were house-sitting, but since **_**so**_** many people were still fussy about the ACMS and no one forcing them on the straight and narrow, I needed someone more passionate than Raven to help explain what was going on from an insider's perspective. I thought the Muggleborn and half-bloods who don't like the way the ACMS is run not complaining about it or revolting but just leaving and never looking back was a fairly obvious solution, but apparently some readers did not.**

**As for the rest of the chapter… I have no clue what the hell happened, but I'm kind of glad it did.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	6. Heroing 101

**Berth:** I thought I mentioned Willow's appearance before; she has green eyes and shoulder-length black hair, so very much a gender-flipped Harry. The extra length and weight means her hair isn't quite as messy as Harry's, though her ends have a bad habit of going _everywhere_.

**This is one of my more **_**unusual**_** chapters. I'm not entirely happy with it, but there were some things I needed to get out to set up the rest of the story.**

**Disclaimer:** Did Raven use magic extensively in one episode but later only rarely referred to that ability, despite how useful it could have been in multiple instances? If so, I don't own the Harry Potter or Teen Titans franchises; they belong to J.K. Rowling and DC Entertainment, respectively, as well as Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 6  
****Heroing 101**

Glancing about at the people filling the wide living room, Remus could not hold back a sigh. This was not how he thought or hoped their little vacation would turn out.

Robin and the oddly named Starfire sat to one side of the open space as they looked through some magazine, though he had to say he had never seen one like it before. Thanks to his friendship with Lily, he was somewhat familiar with the lack of moment found in Muggle photographs, but their books and newspapers had not possessed the same glossy sheen this publication did. The werewolf was willing to admit that the young man was well-suited to being a leader and had the same bearing and charisma that had initially drawn him to James, but regardless of how much he was reminded of his first friends he had made since contracting his lycanthropy, he still could not stomach the idea that Robin – any of them, really – were routinely putting their lives on the line by fighting crime day in and day out. It was for the same reason he had issues with Fred and George Weasley participating in the Order's activities: though they were adults, that did not mean they should be burdened by the pain and tragedy that went hand-in-hand with combating evil. That was a job for those nearer the ends of their lives.

Robin may have been reminiscent of James, but Starfire, despite her red hair and green eyes, was nothing like Lily. Instead, she reminded him most strongly of Marlene McKinnon; both women had that same innocence and love of life that seemingly nothing but death could truly tarnish. He was still a little incredulous regarding the idea that the girl was from another _planet_, but as he had no evidence that it was impossible, especially considering all the other strange devices surrounding him at the moment, he was loath to make an issue of it.

In the semicircular couch in front of the wide window – though the view of the bay had been replaced by a long-running photograph featuring Muggle cars racing down a track – sat Cyborg and his… _spouse_. Neither individual had necessarily made a good first impression on him, though if he were honest with himself, it was not the black man's fault. He simply could not wrap his head around the fact that Cyborg supposedly had metal not just grafted to his skin, but actually _inside_ him acting as replacement bones, muscles, and organs. Such a concept was disturbing on a number of levels, and that those prosthetics were made of magically inert steel of all possible materials rather than something more normal like wood or stone just added to the unnaturalness.

The dark-skinned hero seemed the mature and stalwart type, however, unlike Beast Boy. Immature, impulsive, and from what the others had told him, a bit of a prankster, the green boy reminded him strongly of the Marauders when they were younger, Sirius especially. That comparison was only strengthened by the fact that the first animal body he had seen the American adopt was a dog not too dissimilar to Padfoot's wolfhound form. Their previously tense relationship had smoothed out substantially after their agreement the night before last, and they were both counting down the days – three, to be exact – until they could be more than a few paces away from each other, but not even that could change the fact that both of them would be more than happy for him to finally be able to leave and go back home to jolly old England.

Huddled under a privacy charm between the sofa and the row of seats farther back in the room were Tonks and Willow, both with their wands out and the elder of the two presumably taking advantage of the lack of oversight their now-extended vacation offered and teaching the teenager a few spells she thought might be useful, a topic she had offhandedly mentioned giving Willow lessons on earlier in the week. The young Auror laughed at something James's daughter had said, and he sighed; despite how much Tonks had professed to wanting one, a relationship between them would never work. Part of the reason was exactly what he had told her and that she had dismissed: he was poor, without any future prospects, and regardless of how she wanted to ignore it, the fourteen year difference between them was a very real hurdle.

The other part, one he would much rather not reveal to anyone just yet, was that he did not wish to burden her with being a widow at such a young age. Werewolves rarely lived very long, the toll on their bodies from the monthly transformations too much for even wizards and witches to handle easily, and while he had benefitted from first his friendship with the other Marauders easing his mind on the full moons and then the Wolfsbane Potion easing his pains, he knew he would be exceptionally lucky to reach what passed for elderly amongst the Muggles, let along a wizard's normal lifespan.

Remus turned away from temptation and looked askew at the final member of the Titans. Much like Starfire, Raven was clearly less than completely human, so her admission of having a parent from another species, though which race that was he had no idea, was not a massive shock. _And judging from how the American Ministry has failed to hide magic from the rest of the populace, her mother could very well have been a Muggle_, he realized. He could respect her more introspective and private personality, but he still could not stomach the idea of making nice with the woman; there was something about her that set off all the alarm bells in his head, instincts dredged up from humanity's primordial past by the Wolf's presence warning him that she was something truly _deadly_ lurking beneath that still surface.

Before he could return his attention to puzzling out the articles in the newspaper Robin had loaned him, which would be significantly easier if he knew who these people or objects were, the flashing red lights and blaring alarm that had made themselves known the day they arrived at the Tower went off. The masked hero nearly leapt to the little window set in the wall and tapped a few buttons. "Could be worse," he said with a relieved sigh, the rest of the group creeping closer. "Adonis is terrorizing the beach. Again."

"Minor threat; wears an exoskeleton, a metal suit that increases his physical abilities. Mostly he just uses it to make a fool out of himself and proclaim that he's the 'best', though at precisely _what_ he has never made clear," Remus heard Raven mutter to Willow and Tonks. He raised one eyebrow curiously at the three witches; the grey-skinned woman had been subtly but significantly more relaxed since yesterday morning, and this was not the first time she had explained something to the three British citizens. Being the only Titan with any previous knowledge of magical society, even if her views on it were less than entirely complementary, she was best able to intuit what topics they were confused about.

"This'll be easy," Cyborg said confidently. "We can pound him flat, hand him to the cops, and get back here in just a few minutes."

Robin's voice was contemplative as he agreed, "We could indeed. We don't even have to all go out to face him. In fact, it might be _better_ to keep a few people here."

"Yep, that's a definite poss— Uh, what?" the armored man quickly asked with a frown. "Rob, what're you thinkin' about? We always go out as a full team, even when it's little stuff like this."

"But we've never had eight people before," the leader rebutted, "and that's a little more than will comfortably fit in your car. Starfire and I alone could probably handle this, but it would be somewhat difficult." Turning to the Titans' 'guests', he continued, "All three of you showed that you can hold your own in a fight, so while we're still waiting for your mandatory bond-time to be over, I would appreciate it if you would be willing to help us out with our duties."

Remus shared a look with Tonks, who shrugged nonchalantly, and Willow, who hesitated a moment before nodding as well. "Looks like we're in," he told the teenage commander.

"Thank you," Robin said, his sincerity obvious. "Since Adonis is such a small-time threat, we can probably get away with bringing just one of you, and the rest would stay here as backup should things get hairy. Any volunteers?"

"It doesn't really matter to us," was Tonks's reply. "You're the ones who have fought this guy before; you figure it out."

Raven gave Willow a strange look for a moment before turning back to Robin. "You can count me out. I still remember what happened the _first_ time we faced him down. No thank you."

"Just you and me, dude," Beast Boy said, smirking at Cyborg. "Rock, Paper, Scissors to pick who's going?"

"Fine by me." The two young men adopted a strange pose and pounded their fists into open hands. "Ah, you have _got _to be kidding!"

The green hero whooped. "Scissors beats paper! Looks like _we're_ the ones getting out of this place. C'mon, Remus, let's go!"

"You mind if we borrow the car?" asked Robin.

Sighing, Cyborg shook his head. "Nah, it's fine, I guess. Just don't let it get all scratched and dinged up, or it'll be you helpin' me fix it. I'll be at comms while you're out." Shoulders slumped, the metallic man plodded over to the same screen Robin has been staring at a few moments ago as the quartet exited the room.

The next several minutes passed by in a confused blur for the poor displaced wizard. Beast Boy dragged him unceremoniously through the massive complex, to a large room with various Muggle machines, and into the back seat of a blue and silver car, the various panels bearing the same branching design as those on Cyborg's arms.

Looking at the heroes climbing in with him, he asked sheepishly, "So… What specifically are we doing?"

"It's not too different to what we did back in Vegas," Robin answered, tapping a button beside the steering wheel that made the vehicle rumble like a territorial cat. "We get there, and you stick close to Beast Boy and keep him from getting hurt too badly while he goes toe-to-toe with Adonis. Starfire and I will stay back a little bit and attack him from range. You can do that as well, of course, but that isn't your primary task.

"I should have asked this earlier, but can you create things out of thin air like Tonks can?"

He nodded. "Yes, it's part of the field of Transfiguration. Anyone who attended Hogwarts learns at least the basics of conjuration."

"That's good to hear. While we're on route, you might want to come up with something that hides your true identity, a mask or a hood or something."

That seemed like a strange bit of advice, and he replied, "I'm afraid I don't quite understand. Of the five of you, you're the only one who wears any kind of mask."

"True enough," Robin agreed. "There are two reasons for that. First, the man who taught me everything I know about fighting crime always stressed to me the importance of using a disguise to protect not yourself, but those around you from the consequences of the actions you take in costume. Second, however, and a bit more important here, I'm the only Titan who _can_ have a secret identity. Starfire has orange skin, Beast Boy is green, Raven's grey, and though Cyborg's actual skin tone is normal, he's still covered in metal. None of them are necessarily _inconspicuous_. No offense," he added with short, apologetic glances at the other passengers in the vehicle.

Remus thought for a few seconds; that was a good point, especially as they could not leave just yet, but what kind of disguise should he choose for himself? "Is there anything I should absolutely avoid using?"

"Not… really?" The masked hero shrugged. "Honestly, so long as your costume hides who you are, what it looks like doesn't really matter, but it might still be a good thing to stay away from spikes, blades, and chains. Those tend to send out the wrong message, which could cause people to fear you instead of trust you. Body modification or replica body parts – skulls, blood, skin used as leather – are likewise a bad idea. Bright colors more easily demarcate you as a hero"–and suddenly the clashing hues of Robin's own outfit made _much_ more sense–"but you've seen what Raven likes to wear, so that's not really a hard and fast rule." He shook his head quickly. "So long as you're doing good deeds, most civilians won't care what you look like, and those who do don't have opinions worth the air it takes to voice them."

The vehicle skidded to a stop on the sand, and the three Titans piled out. Hesitating just for a moment but not long enough to trigger the bond, Remus slid across the seat to join them, throwing a hastily conjured outer robe around himself. It was rather warm inside the brown cloth – the garment was normally worn in the winter to prevent snow and mud from getting on a wizard's dress robes, so all the examples of this kind of robe he had encountered were made with a thick weave ill-suited to the far sunnier California coastline – but a quick cooling charm soon had that problem sorted out. "So where is this 'Adonis'?" he asked.

Half of a building's sign soared past them.

"That answer your question?" Robin queried, a faint grin on his face. That expression rapidly faded, however, and he drew a short bar of metal from behind his back that extended into a long pole. "Adonis, climb out of the suit and put your hands on your head, and we won't have to hurt you!"

"You think you can hurt _me_? Ha!"

The bearer of that arrogant voice stepped forward, and Remus had to blink a few times to make sure he was not seeing things. It was an enormous man, easily eight feet tall and nearly as broad as Hagrid, encased in armor the same eye-watering scarlet as the Hogwarts Express. He turned to look at the Americans. "And you said he is supposed to be _easy_?"

"Most certainly, Friend Remus," the airborne alien answered. "Without his suit, the Adonis is no threat to anyone. He… How did Friend Cyborg phrase it? _'He talks the talk but can't walk the walk'_, I believe?"

"That _is_ a common English phrase, but I wouldn't say it's the right one for this situation." Robin glanced at the wedded pair and muttered softly, "Beast Boy, you want the first swing at him, or do you want us to distract him?"

The verdant hero gave the villain a quick glance, seemingly uncaring that their enemy looked to have more than a few drops of giant's blood in his veins. "I can take him."

"All right. Titans, go!"

Beast Boy needed no more encouragement than that, taking off at a swift run that Remus had to push himself to match. Seeing the pair coming towards him, Adonis began his own charge. The younger man shouted, "You ready for a blast from the past?!"

Then he changed.

The wizard staggered to a halt, his eyes wide. Somehow, some way, Beast Boy had transformed into a dark green _werewolf_.

Despite his sudden stop, they had already approached close enough that the two combatants crashed into each other right at the edge of the bond's range. Their arms and chests bulging, Adonis was just barely able to out-muscle the wolf and slam Beast Boy to the ground. "Not so tough are you now, huh— Aaargh!"

The orb of glimmering green light smashed into his back, and the brawny villain turned to stare at Starfire with a snarl. In doing so, he left his flank open to attack from the opposite direction, and a crackle of lightning heralded Robin taking advantage of that. Faced with two enemies, Adonis looked unsure who to attack first.

"Remus!" The masked hero's bellow dragged him from his amazement and reminded him that he still had a job to do. Drawing his wand, he flicked it at Adonis, and the bright red light of his Disarming Charm zipped through the air and splashed against the metal armor. The magic did not force the villain's suit to cease functioning – from the way the girls had been talking, he could only assume it was ekletonic like other Muggle artifacts, and while Raven had disparaged the idea that the two forces interfered with each other, that did not change the fact that it was common knowledge that such interactions happened whenever they were brought into conflict – but Adonis _did_ spasm as the metal jerked and twisted.

A heavy thud from Adonis suddenly hitting the ground reached Remus's ears, but before he had time to worry about the boy underneath, his eyes were drawn to an emerald python slithering its way around the burly man's chest. Beast Boy morphed with another sickening squelch, this time into a magnificent lion. Sharp teeth and strong jaws found the edges of one armor plate, and with a mighty heave the metal was ripped free, displaying a complicated system of metal wheels and straps.

"There!" Robin called. "It's a weak point! Hit it with everything you've got!"

The hero suited his words with action, throwing a gleaming red projectile that Adonis immediately spun around to deflect. In doing so, he forgot that he was still facing multiple opponents. Though Remus's Banishing Charm once again failed to have any appreciable interfere with the inner workings of the Muggle contraption, the same could not be said about its interaction with the blast of power Starfire lobbed at the villain at the same time. A bright light akin to the sun shone from their enemy's armor, and that was followed by a brilliant yellow shockwave that threw them all off their feet.

_Note to self, don't try to do that again_. He shakily stood, Beast Boy joining him from where either the explosion had tossed them side-by-side or their bond had dragged them together. The paired men walked toward the downed villain, Robin and Starfire also heading in that direction, and they all stared in mute surprise at the sight before them. The reason Adonis could not regain his feet was simple: the entire back half of his armor had been demolished, melted or even vaporized if the rounded and splattered edges of the hole were any indication. The man's body appeared unharmed, however, and Robin was quick to reach into the gaping maw and tear Adonis out. Looking over the criminal's scraggly build, the wizard asked doubtfully, "Is he _supposed_ to look like this?"

"Yep. Amazing the difference removing a couple hundred pounds of steel will do for somebody's appearance, isn't it?" Robin replied, dropping the unconscious criminal onto the sand. "It's actually rather disappointing. Building an exoskeleton like this isn't easy, but rather than apply that intellect and talent in a useful way, he goes around making a nuisance of himself. Such a waste."

Remus thought he understood, at least to some degree. If a wizard were to try creating a suit of armor to improve his strength like this one did, the enchantments would almost certainly be too complicated for any but the most skilled of masters to complete. He looked around at the now-deserted beach. "So… What are we supposed to do now?"

"Not much," Robin responded with a shrug. "I'll call the JCPD, they'll swing by to take him off our hands, we'll give them a verbal report, and then we're on our way back home. Boring stuff, but if we want the city to keep picking up the tab for our living expenses, these are the hoops we have to jump through.

"There _is_ something we have to do before they get here, though." The masked man grinned wickedly, his teammates adopting similar expressions. "Now that you've taken down a criminal with superpowers while wearing a costume, there's no way you can get out of taking a superhero name. Let's see…"

The minutes that followed made Remus wish yet again that he had turned down Tonks's invitation to go on this vacation.

* * *

Willow watched the four run out the door with not a little relief. While she understood the importance of stopping evil, that did not mean she wanted to fight at every opportunity. _Or any of them_, she thought before rapidly banishing the poisonous idea from her head.

"This sucks," Cyborg muttered, having clomped over to the computer monitor set into the counter, and once again, the teenage witch found herself in awe of the technology all around her. The Dursleys had prided themselves on having the best things to flaunt their social status to everyone who would listen, but what the Titans had put even the most expensive of Vernon's toys to shame.

Likely feeling the tug of their bond, Tonks quickly hurried to the computer, and with nothing else to do, Raven and Willow migrated over as well. Glancing over the complex device in a little confusion, the metamorph asked, "What are we supposed to do while they're gone?"

"There's not a whole lot we _can_ do," Cyborg answered unhappily. "Normally we all head out as a group and set the Tower's alarm system to send us information of other crimes being committed while we're away. If something else happens, we can take care of it, but until then, we're kinda stuck twiddlin' our thumbs."

"Regardless, there is nothing to be gained by complaining," admonished Raven as she settled herself on the nearer end of the sofa. Stretching her hand toward the chair she had been using prior, her teacup and book both floated sedately over to her. She took a small sip of the beverage and immediately grimaced. A quick mutter of "_Calefacio_" then caused steam to begin rising from the surface.

"What in Merlin's name was that?!" Tonks exclaimed as she stared at the cup like it was about to come alive and attack her.

"I was under the impression that, being English, you would be familiar with tea," the grey-skinned witch replied, the faintest of smirks playing on her lips. Willow had to repress her own grin; when it was not aimed at her, Raven's snarky comebacks were actually quite amusing. "Unless you're talking about the warming charm, in which case I am still surprised that you've never heard of it. I would expect basic utility spells like that to be taught in any decent magic school."

Willow nodded. "They are; we learned that charm in third year. I think she's talking about how you could cast it without using a wand, or anything else, for that matter. I know you said you had that… telekinesis… thing as well as being a witch, but _that_ was magic. In fact, I can't think of anything you have that you could use to cast _any_ spell," she mused. "If I walked into your room without any prior knowledge of who you are, I'd honestly have a hard time figuring out that you're magical in the first place."

"That is actually rather easy to explain," Raven replied. "I have little need for much magic in my daily life. Not only is technology easier for me to get ahold of, the rest of the team can use it and Cyborg can generally repair it, regardless of what it is." The metal-shrouded hero smiled and nodded at the compliment. "Additionally, I trained in Azarath, my homeland, primarily in verbal magic, so I do not require a focus object for what few spells I do use regularly anyway."

_Verbal… magic?_ Looking to Tonks and finding the same confusion displayed that she felt, the youngest of the four looked to her spouse. "I'm afraid I don't understand. What is _'verbal magic_'?"

"Surely you know what verbal magic is. One of the four general categories of external manifestation? Perhaps it is simply called something different in Britain," the part-human girl thought aloud.

_That… doesn't really help much. I've never even heard of _'categories'_ or _'external manifestation'_ before_. She shrugged her shoulders sheepishly and muttered, "I think it might be something we're taught in later classes."

"I doubt it, not unless the NEWT classes have changed a _lot_ since I was a Hogwarts student, and that was only five years ago," Tonks denied. "I can't say for sure that it's _not_ covered in high-level Arithmancy since I never took that class, but I had some friends who did, and they never mentioned anything like this."

Raven frowned. "How strange. That was the _very_ first lesson the monks gave me; discovering which aspect one relies upon is crucial to mastering magic. You truly know _nothing_ of this?"

The two Brits shook their heads, and Willow asked hopefully, "Could you, maybe, teach us?"

"I can, and even more I _should_. It is, after all, one of the _basic_ concepts of spell-casting. You can hardly call yourselves witches if you are ignorant of the foundations of the craft." The American witch took another sip of tea, looking more as if it was to give her something to do while she thought than because she was really thirsty. "We may as well begin at the beginning, I suppose.

"Magic is a fundamental force of the universe, and throughout history and across the multiverse, there have always been individuals able to sway this remarkable energy to perform actions that are otherwise impossible. Some species are more blessed with this talent than others, though no one knows why, probably because even though we know magic exists and how to manipulate it, we still do not know what it truly _is_. That said, while individual cultures develop their own methods of using magic independently of each other, those practices can all be generalized as examples of one or more of these four categories.

"On Earth, the most common method used by humans to manifest magic outside the body – what we commonly call 'spells' – is kinetic casting, using motions of the body to impress our wills upon reality. These motions may be simple and small, such as flicking one's finger, or elaborate dances, which are often considered supplications to one or more deities. Next is verbal casting: incantations, songs, humming; any vocal utterance, really. The third category is material casting, wherein one uses a physical object as a connection between the mind and the world. Jewels or precious metals are most commonly used, not because they are innately more effective but because the society one is raised in puts higher value upon them, but I have seen people rely on innocuous things whose only importance is sentimental. Last is runic casting, which relies on drawn symbols rather than phonemes but is otherwise similar to verbal magic. It is the least common aspect world-wide, though mages raised in eastern Asia seem to be unusually proficient at it.

"Any one of these is technically sufficient to use magic, but the issue is complicated by the fact that everyone leans to different degrees toward the different categories. As I said before, I need no foci because I am primarily verbal, though I can use material and runic magics as well given enough time and incentive. Kinetic casting, however, is impossible for me. The two of you are almost guaranteed to be drawn in different directions than I am, and even then you aren't the same as each other."

Tonks hummed thoughtfully. "That makes a certain amount of sense, I guess; in sixth and seventh year, you learn nonverbal and point-casting, which is casting spells without the proper incantation or motions, respectively," she explained to Willow's bemused glance. Giving Raven a suspicious look, she continued, "The only problem with your explanation is that you said this _'material casting'_ is the third most common way of using magic, but wandless magic is still extremely rare, so surely wands are more important than you're saying."

"Your _'problem'_ becomes much clearer when you stop to think about it," Raven replied calmly. "Tell me, if someone is primarily verbal but also has some capacity for material casting, what would be the effect of using both words and a physical focus?"

"Are you saying that these different forms of casting spells work together?" asked Willow, an idea of what that meant beginning to form.

"Correct, there is indeed synergy between the categories. One of the benefits of wands, the secret that Purebloods in this country have done their best to keep to themselves, is that wand-based magic actually uses three of the four aspects: verbal for the incantation, kinetic for the various swishes, and material for the wand core. These added together make for a system of spell-casting that is far quicker and easier to master than training to use one's primary aspect alone, and so working magic without one afterwords would be comparatively more difficult."

"Are you sure it's really a secret, or could it just be that they don't know about any of this, either?" the raven-haired witch suggested. "From what we saw in Vegas, magical society here isn't too different from back home, and over there wandlore is a very rare subject to study. If they don't know about these aspect things or how wands are made…"

Raven frowned for a moment. "You make a very good point. Generally it is thought that Purebloods intentionally withhold information like this due to prejudice, but if the reality is that they have lost the knowledge themselves…" She nodded. "I can see that being a definite possibility."

"How would we go about figuring out which type of magic we use?" Tonks asked, a strange gleam in her eye. "With wandless magic being so rare in Britain, if we could at least start learning it here, there's no telling when it could come in handy."

"I'm sure there is some complicated ritual that would tell you exactly how strong your affinity is to each aspect, but the simplest method is something you have already done: start trying to cast magic with one fewer aspect. You said that you had to learn spells either without words or without motions. Which method was easier for you?"

"Definitely nonverbal casting, for me and most of the class." The metamorph paused for a moment. "You know, now that I think about it, the people who had the hardest time getting nonverbal spells down were also the ones who found point-casting the easiest. Well, except for a couple of people who were equally skilled at both."

"Probably they were material casters," Raven said with a knowing nod. The purple-haired heroine then looked to Willow. "You, on the other hand, do not have such a shortcut."

"Maybe I do," the green-eyed girl replied slowly, a memory working its way forward. "Last summer, I had lost my wand and needed to find it in the dark, and when I called out the _Lumos_ charm, the tip of my wand lit up all by itself several feet away from me. Does that mean I have a material affinity, too?"

Raven shook her head. "If you did, you would have needed your wand in your hand to work the spell, and it would have lit up without you even thinking about the incantation, just your desire. More likely you used verbal magic and your wand lit up because that is what you were subconsciously visualizing." With a thoughtful frown, she continued, "You would need a pretty strong affinity for that aspect to do it, actually; from what you've told me, you have never tried magic without a wand, and jumping from four aspects straight down to one would be exceedingly difficult."

"It also means you'll have a _hard_ time with nonverbal magic next year, and I doubt the professors will accept this explanation," Tonks warned.

"Maybe, but if I showed them that I could do magic without a wand and only with words?" she asked distractedly, her eyes falling to her holly wand. What the professors might or might not say when she got back to Britain was immaterial, but twice now she had gotten on the Ministry's bad side because of their stupid Trace. It was not an issue here and now, but if there was a way she could defend herself when need be, or even just use magic to take care of minor chores without a bunch of bureaucrats sticking their noses into her life all the time… "Raven, I don't mean to impose, but you said you use verbal-only magic. Would you be willing to teach me how to do it?"

"I have already told you how; now it is all a matter of practice. Still," her wife gave her a casual shrug, "I have no other demands on my time besides our normal duties to the city. I suppose I could give you a few pointers here and there."

* * *

**Yes, in addition to making them social pariahs, lycanthropy also slowly and painfully kills its victims. I don't think I've ever seen this take on it before, but thinking about magical lifespans for **_**Black Princess Ascendant**_** led me to reflect on how sickly and gaunt Lupin was always described as being, and I couldn't help but notice that it didn't sound all that different from someone suffering from terminal cancer or some other type of wasting disease. Therefore, in this story the transformation werewolves go through imposes a physical burden on them that drastically decreases their life expectancies.**

**I hate writing battle scenes, as I'm sure some of you are aware, but I hate writing fights with annoying enemies like Adonis even more. Part of the reason Raven went into so much depth about magical theory is so I could have **_**something**_** in this chapter that I enjoyed.**

**Silently Watches out.**


	7. Culture Clash

**I've made a _small_ change to last chapter in regards to how wands work; this probably won't affect the rest of the story, so if you don't care, don't worry about rereading it. Also, any Dumbledore fans in the room? Fair warning: it's not pretty.**

**Disclaimer:** Did Dumbledore ever work together with the larger and presumably better-supplied DMLE, even after the Ministry admitted that Voldemort was back? If not, I own neither the Harry Potter nor Teen Titans franchises; they belong to J.K. Rowling and DC Entertainment, respectively, as well as Warner Bros.

* * *

**Chapter 7  
****Culture Clash**

Albus cursed softly as his fourteenth attempt at a tracking device spat out yet another useless set of coordinates. Had he known in advance that Nymphadora was going to steal away Willow like she did, he would have placed an appropriate charm on the younger girl's glasses, which would have told him her location anywhere in the world; unfortunately, divination was a field he had never had much skill in, and one that even now he did not lend much credence. The truth of prophecies did not grant justification to reading tea leaves or peering into crystal balls, at least not in his not-inconsiderable opinion.

_I know that she is in the States, but that is all_, he thought as he turned again to the map of the world he had hung upon his wall and plotted the new location. It lay squarely on the line he had drawn earlier after taking all the other results into account, and it was farther out than the previous attempts, but the destination given was still in the middle of the Atlantic. Another glance at the line that cut across the entire width of North America, and he sighed. He did _not_ want to involve anyone else in this, but it seemed he no longer had any choice. Dragging himself to his office fireplace with a grimace, he threw a pinch of Floo powder inside. "Ministry of Magic, DMLE Headquarters."

The old wizard stepped through into the office; one of the few benefits of being the Chief Warlock was his authorization to access any Floo gate in the Ministry building or Wizengamot Chambers. Whether that offset the irritation that came part and parcel with forcing the various Houses at least to _pretend_ to cooperate was something he was still debating. He gave the guards standing next to the fireplace quick nods as he walked deeper into the complex.

The office he was searching for was easy to find, and he opened the door. "—and that's not even the worst of it!" Amelia Bones was saying as she yelled at a pair of blue-clad Magical Law Enforcement Patrolmen. She turned burning blue eyes on Albus and growled, "Dumbledore, out."

"This is incredibly important, I assure—"

"I don't care about your assurances. Get out before I have you arrested, Chief Warlock or no."

_Arrested for what?_, he was tempted to press, but considering that the witch _had_ just spent a year, if not actively cooperating with Cornelius's smear campaign, then at least not protesting it, he nodded genially and stepped back while closing the door behind him. After several more minutes, the door was pulled open and the Patrolmen gingerly exited, looking much the worse for wear. He reentered and chastised, "That was quite rude, Amelia."

"Ruder than walking into my office unannounced without an appointment or even _knocking_?" she retorted sharply. Leaning back in her chair, she sighed. "What are you doing here, Dumbledore?"

Albus swallowed his displeasure and admitted, "I need your… help. I have reason to believe that Auror Tonks left for the States a week ago." He was unsure if the woman would consider the matter of Willow's disappearance of great concern, regardless of her status as the Girl-Who-Lived, but mentioning one of her subordinates would surely get a response.

"And?" was Amelia's bored reply.

"_'And'?_ Surely with Voldemort's return, we need all the Aurors we can find. If one of our protectors has chosen to flee rather than face the Darkness…" He let the rest of his warning hang hauntingly in the air.

Contrary to his expectations, Amelia did not leap into action. She _laughed_. "You old fool. Tonks didn't run away; she's on _vacation_. I'm not going to keep my people from using their well-earned time off. A stressed, burned-out Auror all too often becomes a _dead_ Auror. Honestly, I thought she was requesting a break to do a side-job for the Order, so I'm quite _happy_ to hear that she's gone off to enjoy herself."

Her words made his heart freeze inside his chest. "You know?"

"About your precious Order of the Phoenix? My brother was part of your group in the seventies, and you've snatched up three of my best men; I'd have to be blind _not_ to notice. Despite what you may think, just because other people don't go by the name 'Albus Dumbledore' doesn't mean we're idiots."

"I take great offense at that, Amelia; I have never thought you were an idiot." Misinformed, unforgiving, and paranoid, yes, but not stupid. "And while I would not begrudge her this break, it is not just her who has disappeared. She took Willow Potter with her as well."

"Still not seeing a problem, though that _would_ explain why the Keepers in the Hall of Records said she was looking into laws regarding the Trace. I had wondered about that."

"Aren't you the least bit concerned for a young witch's safety?!" he thundered at the other woman's nonchalance. "Her _life_ could be in danger! She needs to be returned here, her home!"

"Her life could be in danger? While she is under the protection of one of my rising stars, a witch in whose care I would confidently leave my own niece? She is likely safer now than she has been for a long time." The head of the DMLE shook her head. "No, you'll have to find something better than that if you want to manipulate me into doing your dirty work for you."

"She should still be brought back, not left over there. There is no telling what could happen to her," he grumbled.

"I will have you know that Edgar's wife was an American immigrant. The girl's in no more danger there than she is here; it isn't like they're uncouth barbarians." Her smile was predatory. "Besides, you aren't part of Potter's House, are you?"

"No."

"Or her guardian?"

"I am someone intimately concerned with her well-being," he protested.

"_But not her legal guardian_. If whomever she lives with when she's not at Hogwarts isn't worried enough to report her as a missing person, there's nothing I can do to look for her even if I wanted to, which I most certainly _do not_," she added.

"You don't care about the girl who defeated the greatest Dark Lord of the age?" he demanded in shocked astonishment. He knew the woman in front of him was unwilling to offer even those who desperately needed it a chance for redemption, but never had he thought she would be so cruel and callous.

"I'd hesitate to use the word _'defeated'_ considering whatever happened to him in '81 doesn't seem to have stuck," she replied with a mirthless snort. "Not to mention, I have yet to see any proof that it was Willow Potter and not her mother who gave us over a decade of peace. So no, I don't care about her any more than I do every other fifteen-year-old witch."

"Proof? Her scar—"

"Clearly could not be the result of the Killing Curse, as that spell has not once before in all of its recorded history left a mark on its victims. I agree completely. I have to wonder, though; if you are truly so concerned about her safety, why don't you send your pet phoenix to her instead of bothering me?"

His fingers clenched tightly on his wand as he restrained his anger, he ground out, "I would have done that, but Fawkes is unfortunately still recovering from his death in the Atrium last month." Which was true but not the _whole_ truth. Though weakened considerably and unable to carry large loads effortlessly as he normally could, Fawkes _had_ regained the abilities both to fly and to Apparate wherever he wished in a ball of fire. Albus had asked, cajoled, and even begged the incredible bird to ferry him to the girl, but the phoenix had refused his every entreaty.

Honestly, his familiar's behavior was extremely concerning. Fawkes had been surprisingly quick to develop a fondness for the young witch, as evidenced by him abandoning Albus's side after being removed as Headmaster to deliver Godric Gryffindor's sword to her. He even shed his tears for her wounds, an action that had temporarily bestowed upon her some of his own regenerative powers.

_That was without a doubt the greatest loss on that day. Had Willow perished, it would have been a tragedy, but Tom's final Horcrux would have been destroyed at the same time. The serpent was his servant, so death by its venom would have counted as dying _'at his hand'_. Instead, she must now be kept safe; if some horrible occurrence befalls her that is not of his making, there is no telling what could happen. She could be left injured but alive, she could even die as a normal witch might, but it is far more likely that the shard of soul left behind in her scar would possess her lifeless body and force us to stand against not one but _**_two_**_ Voldemorts._

Without a sign of his thoughts on his face, he demanded, "So you will only deign to help if the Dursleys report her as missing, then? What about the fact that they are Muggles and therefore have no means to contact you?"

"Just because they don't have magic doesn't mean they can't use an owl. Or conversely, since you are so interested in this, you can serve as their errand boy. It doesn't matter a whit to me." She sat forward and directed her eyes to the forms littering her desk, a quill twirling in her fingers. "Now, if that is all, I'm sure you have somewhere else to be. Leave the door open when you leave."

_This is not over, Amelia_, he thought as he departed. _I guarantee that_.

* * *

"You two don't have to rub it in, you know," Willow protested while an elderly wizard in a grey robe poked and prodded at her and Raven. Her glare was firmly locked on Tonks as the older witch leaned against the wall and tossed a white ball back and forth with Cyborg.

Who was standing on the opposite side of the room.

Tonks laughed. "Ah, but it's so much _fun_."

"Dudette's got a point," growled Beast Boy, who had already been examined. "This is not cool at all."

It had been seven days exactly since their bonding period as of early that morning, and when they all woke up, Tonks and Cyborg had been overjoyed to at long last be able to step more than a few paces from each other. Raven and Willow had not been so fortunate. Nor had Lupin and Beast Boy, but at least the married girls ignored the suggestion that the two men try running as fast as possible in opposite directions in the hope their bond might snap like an overstretched rubber band. That had worked about as well as expected.

Lupin looked at the representative the government of magical Oregon had finally gotten around to sending over. "_Please_ tell me you have some idea of what happened here."

"I _do_ have an idea," the old wizard agreed, stowing his wand away. "How much do you know about this Fidelity Bond?"

"According to the man who put it on us, it ties us together for the rest of our lives, prevents unapproved cheating on our partners, and should have ended this morning," replied Raven, her tone sharp as a blade.

The civil servant nodded and wheezed, "True, but what he forgot to mention was that this bond is only meant for _humans_. Other species have magic that is more primitive, less willing to release what is given to it. Conversely, it may be that creatures are simply meant to submit to the yoke and serve true wizards—"

"Okay, we get it. Purebloods for the win," Cyborg cut in. "Mind gettin' to the point and explainin' why it's actin' all weird with them?"

"I thought it was obvious. One in each pair is not human, and so their magics are holding more tightly to the bond than they would otherwise," the old man sniffed in disdain.

"That makes some sense, I guess," Robin mused aloud. "We all know that Raven's father was a different species. But Remus is completely human."

"He is human in fact, or only in seeming?" was the wizard's knowing reply.

Looking around at everyone staring back at him, Remus swallowed nervously. "I… I'm a normal man most of the time, just not at the full moon."

"A werewolf?" the representative asked in surprise. He turned to Tonks. "You are more lenient with him than you ought be. One never knows when a werewolf without a collar will wheel around to bite the hand that feeds it."

Recalling how they had received advice along those lines before, when they first entered this country, Willow asked, "What is this collar you're talking about, anyway?" Lupin looked at her with a betrayed expression. "What? I'm curious."

The elder peered at her with approving eyes, and in light of the man's earlier bigotry, she squirmed uncomfortably. Raven's hand coming to rest atop her own stilled her restlessness. "The Collars of Lune are the result of a collaboration between the wand-based magic of our forefathers and the shamanic arts of the primitive peoples they met upon their arrival to this land. When the natives first laid eyes on a rampaging werewolf, they proclaimed that he had been taken over by a raging spirit and could no longer think as a man; they then performed a strange dance that caused the werewolf's inner beast to retreat and sleep for a time. Realizing the benefit of such an ability, the settlers created first a spell with the same effect to stop the rages, and then one brilliant individual, Samuel Eisler, enchanted several dog collars and used those to permanently tame three beasts that had taken to attacking his town. In exchange for freedom from the moon's call, those three men were obligated to serve him lest he remove the collars and force them back into the cold grasp of their curse."

"I don't see how any werewolf who wears one of these collars receives a benefit," Lupin snarled. "It is a curse, of that we are in agreement, but I'll take being a monster over being a slave."

"There are indeed some benefits," the old wizard replied calmly. "Freedom from your monthly torment and acceptance into society are two of them, but there was also a modification made to the original enchantment that allows a werewolf to transform back and forth at nothing more than a single command."

_Werewolves with collars can change at any time?_, Willow thought in surprise, Tonks and Lupin looking the same as she felt. "If these collars let them change whenever they want, how are there still werewolves treated like servants? I would think they could just transform and revolt or something."

"Because the other enchantments on the collar ensure that the wolves behave their masters, as good guard dogs should."

_Oh. That's… Let's not let Voldemort _**_ever_**_ get wind of this. Him having a bunch of werewolves who can transform outside the full moon and are enchanted to obey him unquestioningly could not _**_possibly_**_ end well._

Raven suddenly jerked upright. "Someone just—"

_Bwamp. Bwamp. Bwamp._

"…appeared on the island," she finished with a sigh, only their proximity allowing Willow to hear the other girl's words over the blaring alarm.

Cyborg punched a few buttons on the wall-mounted console. "Looks like we got two strangers on the grounds. Some old guy and a woman." He turned around to look at the Brits. "Both of 'em are wearin' weird robes, kinda like you guys brought with you and that guy has on."

The government representative cleared his throat nervously. "Well, it looks like you have things to take care of. I'll just… go…"

"Wait a minute. How long are we gonna be stuck like this?!" Beast Boy shrieked.

"A month? Six weeks? It shouldn't be more than that, but between a werewolf and a half-breed, there's no way to know for sure." Before anyone could say anything else, the wizard immediately Disapparated.

Raven closed her eyes and muttered for a solid half-minute before looking up at the rest of them. "Teleportation wards are back up. I knew I should have restored them once he arrived."

"It's fine; now at least we know these two can't just jump wherever they want to go," Robin replied. "Anyone know who they are?"

The screen serving as the middle pane of the window displayed the feed from the security cameras, and Willow would have had to be blind not to recognize Dumbledore, though the eye-searing orange robes he wore made that situation more likely than not. The woman also looked familiar, though she could not place the face. Tonks gasped at the picture and answered, "That's Dumbledore and Madam Bones."

"Isn't Madam Bones head of the DMLE?" Lupin qualified.

"Yeah. She's my boss's _boss's_ boss," the metamorph explained to the bewildered looks on the Titans' faces. "I don't like that they're both here. Don't like it one little bit."

"Why not?" asked Cyborg.

"Because of me."

Tonks nodded at Willow's statement. "Yeah, I kinda, maybe, _sort of_ dragged Willow out of her house and shoved a portkey into her hands without letting anybody else know. In hindsight, that wasn't my greatest idea, and I _might_ be looking at kidnapping charges."

"But I was okay with it, so they can't call it kidnapping if I went along willingly, can they?" the black-haired girl protested. Over the previous week, she had gotten much closer to the elder witch; she would not be able to bear it if Tonks was punished for simply trying to help her.

"You forget how much power Dumbledore has. If he wants to see me hang, he could very well make it happen, regardless of what truth. He… _probably_ wouldn't, but considering how I completely ignored what he said we were supposed to do in regards to you…" Her gulp told the room just how nervous the Auror really was.

Swiftly making a decision, Willow scooted away from Raven and patted the space she had just vacated. "Sit here and try not to panic. Now that everyone knows Voldemort's back, maybe Bones will be willing to listen to the Girl-Who-Lived. She seemed fair enough at my hearing last summer." The end of the previous school year, Sirius falling through the Veil and Dumbledore revealing how much he had really known about what was going on in her life, flashed before her eyes. "And let me handle Dumbledore, too. I'm still not very happy with him."

"Can you control the door and elevator remotely from here?" Robin asked Cyborg after another moment.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Guide those two up here. If we're going to be looking at a potential conflict, better we start off with the upper hand, and it's hard to feel in charge if someone else is controlling what's going on around you. Besides, considering how out of their depth _they_"—he nodded at the witches and wizard—"were when they first got here, those two might not know how to operate anything, anyway."

"What _I'd_ like to know is how they found us in the first place," Beast Boy muttered as he watched the pair on the screen.

Tonks shook her head. "My fault. I brought my Auror badge with me – it never hurts to be prepared, you know – and every badge has tracking charms the Head Auror and the director of the DMLE can use to find us anywhere in the world. It's a countermeasure to prevent us getting trapped somewhere or a dark wizard from hiding a dead Auror's body."

The next minute saw everyone sitting impatiently, and then the elevator doors ahead of them _whooshed_ open. Bones and Dumbledore looked at the space where the doors had previously been with trepidation before stepping inside the room.

Unfortunately, spotting the presumable object of his search quickly sobered the old man up. "Ah, Willow, there you are. Your sudden disappearance had quite a few people worried."

"I don't see why. Am I not allowed to go away on a vacation?" she bit out, anger beginning to bubble in her gut.

"Of course you are, but I would have liked to be informed beforehand, and leaving the country just isn't safe in these dark times," Dumbledore replied, his blue eyes sparkling.

She snorted. "I'm probably safer _out_ of the country than _in_ it. I haven't seen a hint of Voldemort or the Death Eaters anywhere near here. And I don't need to clear my plans about how I spend my summer with you, _Headmaster_."

"I seem to recall saying something to that effect myself, Dumbledore," Bones interjected with a less-than-cordial smile.

"Be that as it may, it still would have been better for you to let me know," he said, giving both witches sharp glances before returning his full attention to Willow. "I only have your best interests in mind."

"Ha! I'll believe it when I see it."

Dumbledore frowned, and by now even the Titans had joined Tonks and Lupin in giving her strange looks. The only one in the room _not_ visibly astonished by her behavior was Bones, who merely grinned at the interplay. "Surely you don't mean that, my dear. What have I done to make you think I deserve such hostility?"

"_'Ten dark and dangerous years'_," she quoted, and the old wizard's eyes finally lost their twinkle. "Talk to me in a decade, and maybe I'll give you another chance. _Maybe_."

Immediately following her losing Sirius, he had portkeyed her to his office before all but admitting that he had known how the Dursleys had treated her throughout her childhood. He knew, and he had done nothing; even worse, he sent her back there every year, telling her it was the best place for her. That it was _safe_. And he expected her to just _ignore_ that like it never happened?

Dumbledore could preach forgiveness all he wanted. She just wasn't that good a person.

The head of the DMLE cleared her throat to cut through the tension that had filled the room like miasma. "The reason we are here, Miss Potter, is that your relatives, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, recently filed a missing persons report on you. As such, it was my office's duty to discover your whereabouts and ensure that you are well. You appear to be perfectly healthy and in high spirits, so my concerns have been settled, but for the record, may I ask what caused you to leave your home and travel to the States?"

"Tonks came by and said that after everything that happened last year, I deserved a vacation, and then she told me that she had already made all the preparations," Willow began, Bones nodding encouragingly. "We Apparated to the travel office, where we met up with Professor Lupin, and came here to spend a weekend in Las Vegas."

"And at no point were there any threats or coercion?" The youngest witch in the room shook her head. "What about your relatives? Why did you not inform them of your plans?"

"The Dursleys and I have an informal arrangement: I stay out of their way as much as possible, and in return they leave me alone. I'm surprised they even bothered reporting I'm gone. Normally they'd be glad to see the back of me," she thought aloud.

Bones gave her a slight smile. "In that case, it should interest you to know that they only sent me a letter detailing the situation after I told Dumbledore that the DMLE wouldn't start looking for you without one."

"Was it really necessary to divulge that information, Amelia?" Dumbledore asked in a tight voice as he looked away from Willow's glare.

"Not really, but it's refreshing to deal with someone else who can see through your bullshit. You'll have to forgive my enthusiasm."

Lupin looked scandalized at that, and Willow had to hide her grin. Madam Bones had just jumped up several notches in her estimation.

Dumbledore visibly smothered his anger. "Yes, well. Now that you have been found, Willow, it is time for you to come home."

"That… might be a little difficult," Robin said.

Their two guests startled, the magicals having almost forgotten about the Titans in the room with them. "Excuse our impropriety," Bones said. "We forgot to introduce ourselves. I am Amelia Bones, director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in Britain, and this is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry among many other titles."

"Robin, leader of the Titans. This is my team: Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire," he replied, pointing at each individual in turn.

"A pleasure. Could you explain to me what you meant about Miss Potter leaving being a problem?"

The team leader raised one eyebrow at Tonks, and the Auror groaned before admitting, "Well, just before we were supposed to leave Vegas, we… might have decided to have a going-away party, and all three of us had a _little_ too much to drink."

"I'd ask how a fifteen-year-old witch was able procure alcohol in the first place, but for some reason I don't think I really want to know," her superior remarked in a bland voice.

"Yeah, so, while we were under the influence, we each found ourselves with a companion, and then we made what was in hindsight a _very_ poor decision."

Bones closed her eyes and shook her head. "_Please_ tell me you didn't get married."

"Er…"

"Merlin and Morgana," the woman groaned.

"Just wait. It gets _better_," Cyborg added with a smile.

Tonks glared at him and growled. "Not. Helping. Yes, we accidentally went to a wedding chapel, and while we were there, the wizard running it performed a binding ritual without our consent."

Willow opened her mouth to correct the older witch, then realized that was a bad idea. Not only did the truth paint her in a bad light, she could not shake the feeling that Tonks would quite literally tear her head off.

"And just what did this _'binding'_ entail?"

"None of us could be more than ten feet away from our partner," Lupin explained, sparing Tonks from further embarrassment. "It was only supposed to last a week, and her bond settled this morning, but for various reasons, mine and Willow's will take another month."

"So you can see that taking Willow or Remus back with you carries some unavoidable complications," finished Robin with an apologetic shrug.

"Not to mention that when she _does_ head back to England, there is no reason to place her under the 'care' of her relatives again." Willow whipped her head around to stare at Raven, who merely looked back calmly into her eyes. "Recall that I am an empath and therefore can read your emotions as if they were printed on a page. Returning you to that environment does you no favors and will only cause you greater grief."

Despite her surprise, the green-eyed girl felt gratitude welling up in her breast. Of all the people she knew, only Sirius had ever voiced even the _suggestion_ that she be freed from the Dursleys' grasp. That Raven, a woman she had met just a single week ago, was willing to stand up for her like this…

_I take back every bad thing I ever thought about you._

"I'm afraid that simply isn't possible," Dumbledore was saying in response. "The Dursleys' home is where she is safest."

Raven crossed her arms and tilted her head back. "And _I'm_ afraid that I must most vehemently disagree."

"Hey, maybe I missed it, but what's the reason she's in all this danger like you're saying?" Beast Boy asked, eyes darting between the elderly wizard and the part-human witch.

Dumbledore turned to Willow in astonishment and… was that disappointment? "You did not tell them?"

"Sorry, I've had other things on my mind," she replied sharply. He would just have to excuse her for not making Voldemort her central focus every minute of every day. She was rather enjoying having a life apart from that, strange though it had been so far.

"Just over a year ago, a terrible Dark wizard by the name of Voldemort was brought back from the dead. Prior to his first demise, he spent eleven years terrorizing the country. None could stop him, and then he attacked the Potters. After murdering both her parents, he turned his wand on Willow, and because of the love of her late mother, she was able to turn his curse upon him and defeat him."

Bones stepped forward and qualified, "She _allegedly_ defeated him. Considering the sole surviving witness was a toddler who, unless I'm very much mistaken, has no memory of the event, no one knows what really happened."

"Let me make sure I have this straight," Robin interrupted, his eyes narrowed. "Your country has police. You have a military—"

"Not really, but when it comes to dark wizards, the Aurors pull double-duty on that," Tonks explained.

"Either way, you have people who are trained for situations like this, correct? And it took eleven years and a baby to stop one man?" The vigilante leader shook his head in incredulity. "I have just a single question. _Why_?"

"In our defense, he had a large group of rich and politically well-connected supporters, which made prosecuting those we captured extraordinarily difficult," Bones answered in a hard voice. "Not to mention, for ten of those years my department was prohibited from using lethal force against the Death Eaters, who showed no such restraint toward us. Once we were given that authorization, we made slow but steady progress in eliminating them, and had the war continued and despite the fear of the populace, I have no doubt that eventually we would have succeeded."

"So if you have a strategy that was working last time, why do you need her?" Robin glanced at Willow for a moment and continued, "I'd be a hypocrite if I said she's too young to help – I was much younger than her when I became a hero – but I also had a mentor and a desire to be involved in this lifestyle. Based on what Willow has told me, even if she has the second, she definitely didn't have the first."

"I assure you, she has handled herself exceptionally well in her prior encounters with him," was Dumbledore's reply.

Bolstered by the support being given by Raven and Robin and reflected in the expressions of the rest of the Titans, Willow countered, "All of which were out of my control. Only once have I ever sought Voldemort out, and even that was because he made the first move. And each time, I survived based on _luck_, not skill or training. You expect me to defeat him again, and for good this time, but how can I do that when I have nothing to depend on but five years of basic schooling and he has five _decades_ of practical experience with the darkest of magics?"

Maybe the previous year, she would have been more accepting of Dumbledore's attempts to persuade her that she could win that fight, but now? Her supposed grandfather figure was not the bastion of strength she had always believed him to be, as demonstrated by the Ministry's propaganda and ability to chase him out of Hogwarts; he was not even the good man he had portrayed himself as; and watching her closest friends nearly be murdered beside her and Sirius fall through the Veil had broken her of her ignorance and naiveté. Only after all that did she understand just how out of her depth she truly was.

Magical Britain wanted her to save them, but she could barely even save herself.

The old man's eyes narrowed, and he pronounced, "That does not change the fact that it is time you came home."

"Even if we _were_ willing to let you take Willow back to that, which we most definitely are _not_, it would require Raven to go with you for an entire month. That is not going to happen." Robin crossed his arms and nodded at the purple-haired witch. "She is not only our primary healer, she's also the best ranged fighter we have, and her absence would leave a hole in our strategy that one of our enemies could take advantage of."

"You would sacrifice an entire country for the sake of _one city_?" Dumbledore exclaimed in derision. "And you _dare_ to call yourself a hero?"

"If what they have told us about your society is true, yes, I would. What is the magical population of the U.K.?" he asked, striding toward the gigantic window and staring out at the city beyond.

The headmaster drew himself up, and Willow was sure he now felt he had the upper hand. "There are fourteen thousand wizards and witches living in Britain, all of whom—"

"Then you should understand why I can't risk Raven leaving without a very good reason."

"What are you talking about?" Dumbledore replied, aghast at the denial. "You would truly leave _thousands_ of people without hope?"

"Honestly, they _should_ have hope in those who are trained to protect them, but if we're going to treat this purely as a numbers game, yes, I would. Fourteen thousand people facing one man backed by, how many followers? Thirty, forty?" he asked Madam Bones.

She nodded. "Closer to thirty, if our estimates are right."

"Meanwhile, the five of us are responsible for the protection of over seven _hundred_ thousand people in this city alone, not counting the less developed areas nearby. We are all that stand between them and the two hundred supervillains that the police are simply not equipped to bring down. You're asking us to ignore their well-being, and I won't – I _can't_ – agree to that.

"Contrary to what you seem to think about me, however, I'm not heartless," he continued, turning back to Bones. "If your… Aurors, right?… need help to take these terrorists down, I will happily send a message to Sister Superior and her Elite. They are a superhero team based in London, so not only would passing this task to them keep us from stepping on their toes, they are more familiar with the area and therefore should be able to move around without risking revealing your society to the world at large."

The older witch paled slightly at that, no doubt envisioning what could happen if knowledge of the Wizarding World spread any farther than it already had. "I appreciate the offer, but at the moment I believe we are capable of handling our current issue by ourselves."

"Amelia, you can't be seriously considering—"

"Strangely enough, I _can_, Dumbledore. Leave the peace-keeping to people who actually know what they're doing; that means _us_, not your Order."

"Without the Order, the Ministry would have fallen in the first years of the War," the old wizard declared, his entire countenance radiating fury.

"Without having to _protect_ the Order from their own folly, our job wouldn't have been half as difficult as you made it."

Dumbledore turned to Willow again, and before he could say anything, she said, "I've already told you no. I'm staying here until this bond settles down."

"Any attempts at circumventing her wish, I will interpret as kidnapping," Raven added with a glare, "and let me warn you, I will not take kindly to them."

"Try to kidnap her, and I'll let them have you. That wouldn't look good for the Chief Warlock," Madam Bones warned. Seeing that he was outnumbered, Dumbledore drew his robes tighter about himself and stormed into the elevator.

_This isn't over_, Willow told herself with grim certainty. _He'll be back_.

"Robin," Bones began, "I have to ask. You mentioned that your team is responsible for defending your city against numerous 'villains' that your police cannot subdue. You are a specialized division of law enforcement?"

"Not _exactly_," answered the Titans' leader. "Technically we are not affiliated with them at all, but in reality they give us a call whenever someone with superpowers attacks, and we arrest the criminal and turn him over to them for holding until his trial. In return for our assistance, the mayor's office covers all our living expenses and pays us an appropriate salary."

"So you're mercenaries, then."

He grimaced as if her words left a bad taste in his mouth. "We prefer the term _'heroes'_, _'consultants'_, or even _'vigilantes'_, but I suppose some aspects of our contract with the city could be construed as such."

"I see." The DMLE's director strode to the window and nodded at the view. "And working outside the law like you do, you have found it to be effective?"

"Yes. We aren't perfect, and occasionally we'll run up against someone we can't subdue immediately, but on the whole, I believe Jump City is better off with us around. The government seems to agree; they've never told us to stop."

Bones pursed her lips for a moment before inclining her head to him. "Thank you for the explanation. It was… informative. Auror Tonks!"

"Ma'am!" the young woman yelped, hastily straightening.

"I have a new assignment for you. From now until she returns to Britain, you're on protection duty for one Willow Potter." Madam Bones smiled slightly at Tonks. "You understand what that means, I trust?"

"I understand. I'm to stay here until her bond stabilizes."

"And stay out of Dumbledore's plots. At the rate he's going, his scheming will soon be the end of him, and I don't need one of my Aurors getting caught up in his fall." The woman turned to Willow. "Miss Potter, it is nice to _properly_ meet you, hearings notwithstanding. We should speak again, and under more pleasant circumstances next time."

Despite herself, the black-haired witch smiled back. "I'd like that."

"Very well." The elevator doors slid open, revealing Dumbledore leaning against the back wall and fuming. Bones stepped inside, and they again closed.

"Well," Cyborg said, breaking the lingering awkward silence, "that was a thing."

Beast Boy scratched his head. "Hey, guys? I didn't want to bring it up while they were still here, but did anyone happen to talk to that first wizard dude about annulling the marriages before he ran off?"

* * *

**No, the delay in the bonds between Raven and Willow or Beast Boy and Lupin breaking is not a copout; that's been in the plans since before I typed the first word of the story.**

**I was, however, a bit (read: completely and totally) surprised by just how big a grudge Willow has against Dumbledore when I started this chapter. Clearly if I had been in charge of writing book 6, how Harry interacted with Dumbledore would have been _quite_ different.**

**Silently Watches out.**


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